Chris Licht, the embattled CEO of CNN, apologized Monday morning to the staff during the cable network’s 9:00 a.m. ET call. ET, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Licht said he did not recognize himself in The Atlantic’s 15,000-word feature story published on Friday. The article documented his opinions on CNN’s coverage, and his efforts to win over staffers in his first year at the job.
CNN staffers viewed the Licht magazine article as a poor example of judgment, especially at a moment when ratings are down and employees are openly revolting against his decision to broadcast a Donald Trump Town Hall with hundreds cheering his supporters. Warner Bros. Discovery According to sources familiar with David Zaslav’s thinking, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery was not happy with the article, entitled “Inside the Meltdown At CNN”, and felt it had been mishandled.
The people said that Licht stated during the phone call that he understood the frustration of his staff and was determined to earn their trust. He did not specifically address why he took part in The Atlantic’s profile in which reporter Tim Alberta, who was a CNN producer, spent months with Licht. This included joining him in the gym for a personal training session, and attending rehearsals backstage. The people who spoke to us were not authorized by the government to speak publicly about the matter. They said that Licht’s remarks, which were brief, were made in the Atlantic profile.
CNN’s spokesperson declined to comment.
David Leavy was announced by Licht as the new chief operating officer for the network on Thursday. Leavy’s responsibilities will include marketing, public relation, advertising sales, facility management, and other logistical tasks.
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Licht will now be able to concentrate more on his programming background. Licht was the executive producer of MSNBC’s Morning Joe in 2007, and then became executive producer and showrunner for CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.
