Chris Licht.Photo:Mike Coppola/Getty
Mike Coppola/Getty
“I have known Chris for many years and have enormous respect for him, personally and professionally. This job was never going to be easy, especially at a time of great disruption and transformation, and Chris poured his heart and soul into it,” Warner Bros. Discover CEO David Zaslav wrote in the memo.
Zaslav added: “Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we had hoped — and ultimately that’s on me. I take responsibility. Needless to say, we appreciate Chris’ efforts and dedication and wish him all the best.”
The news of Licht’s ousting comes days after ascathing profile of Lichtdropped inThe Atlanticand reportedly led employees to lose faith in his leadership style and abilities.
Atlanticreporter Tim Alberta spent months speaking with Licht for the profile, which was published last Friday and painted Licht as an executive who is out of touch with his employees, many of whom reacted to the profile with disappointment.
“It’s very frustrating,” one employee toldNew York Magazine, “that we learn more about Licht’s motivations from interviews than we do from internal communication.”
On a Monday morning editorial call, Lichtreportedly said, “To those whose trust I’ve lost, I will fight like hell to win it back, because you deserve a leader who will be in the trenches, fighting to ensure CNN remains the world’s most trusted name in news.”
John Nowak/CNN
News of Licht’s departure — even with an apology for theAtlanticpiece — still doesn’t come as much of a shock, timed nearly one month after adisastrous town hall with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumpsaw the former president repeatedly bulldoze moderatorKaitlan Collinsand make largely unchecked claims on live television.
Trump reiterated lies that the 2020 elections were “rigged” and called the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the state capitol “a beautiful day.” He also lobbed insults at writer E. Jean Carroll, who won her lawsuit against him the day before for sexual abuse and defamation, calling her a “wack job.”
He went on to say he “did not know” Carroll, and suggested that her claims that he forced her against a dressing room and assaulted her at Bergdorf Goodman 27 years ago were false and referred to the alleged assault as “hanky-panky.”
At a Thursday staff meeting after the town hall, Licht reportedly defended the broadcast to staff members, even promoting Collins to a primetime slot the following week.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for CBS News
“I am aware that there have been people with opinions [and] backlash, and that is absolutely expected,” Licht said of the town hall, according toThe Washington Post. “And I’ll say this as clearly as I possibly can: You do not have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say we didn’t get them.”
Licht took over running the network in February, 2022 from CNN president Jeff Zucker who abruptly resigned. Since then, CNN hostBrian Stelterexited the network following the cancellation of his morning showReliable Sources,and hostJohn Hardwoodalso left amid several changes at the network.Don Lemonwas alsofired from the networkin April.
On the first day of the job, Lichtsent out a memo to CNN staffsaying that “CNN must be a vital, relevant, and respected part of our culture.”
“Sadly, too many people have lost trust in the news media,” Licht wrote.
source: people.com
