CNN’s Chris Licht is stepping down following a tumultuous tenure atop the cable news network, where he was seen as having lost the support of the newsroom.
His departure comes after a year of public fumbles, including the disastrous town hall event with Donald Trump and amid anemic ratings. Licht, a former producer of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and CBS This Morning, also failed in his attempt to develop a successful morning show, which quickly unraveled with the abrupt departure of Don Lemon.
It all culminated Friday in a devastating profile in The Atlantic by journalist Tim Alberta, which depicted Licht as a detached executive with little vision for how to run the cable news network. Alberta, who spoke to more than 100 CNN employees in the course of reporting the profile wrote that everyone “was asking some variation of the same question: Did Licht have any idea what he was doing?”
In addition, he wrote, “CNN employees had asked me, again and again, to probe for some humility in their leader,” even a “morsel of self-awareness.” And yet Licht comes across as cocky throughout, bragging to Alberta about his workout routine and defending his stewardship of the network.
Last week, Warner Bros. Discover CEO David Zaslav installed his lieutenant David Leavy to the role of COO. Leavy will become part of an interim leadership team, along with Amy Entelis, EVP of talent and content development, Virginia Moseley, EVP of editorial, and Eric Sherling, EVP of US programming, the network announced. Puck first reported the news of Licht’s exit.
“For a number of reasons, it didn’t work out,” Zaslav reportedly told staff Wednesday morning. “And that’s on me, I take full responsibility.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated
