CEO Chris Licht gets thrown overboard as CNN tries to save themselves from sinking

Sarah D | 9:26 AM on June 07, 2023

Let’s just say the past several months haven’t been the smoothest for CNN. Let’s say that, because it’s the truth.

While we watched from here with amusement, an internal fight was brewing between CNN “talent” and CEO Chris Licht. And it looks like Licht just lost:

BREAKING: Embattled CNN chief Chris Licht will be leaving the company, sources tell @DylanByers, and long-time top executive Amy Entelis will step in to steady the ship until Warner Bros. Discovery C.E.O. David Zaslav picks a new leader. https://t.co/qE5tUuy5OQ

— Puck (@PuckNews) June 7, 2023

More from Puck News:

Now, after a year of leadership missteps, programming misfires, a disastrous Trump town hall and the near-total decimation of staff morale in the wake of a chilling all-access Atlantic story, Licht will be vacating the C.E.O. position. In the next 48 hours, I’m told, Warner Bros. Discovery will announce that Licht will be stepping down as chairman and C.E.O. of CNN, ostensibly bringing an end to one of the most turbulent periods in the network’s 43-year history.

Welp.

Yesterday. https://t.co/hTiFd9iU0P

— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) June 7, 2023

Good call, Jon.

How many Scaramuccis is that?

— Fat Apollo (Parity) (@realfatapollo) June 7, 2023

Not many.

He wanted to do news too badly https://t.co/CIfoPVg4L6

— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) June 7, 2023

Heh. Maybe that was it.

According to Dylan Beyers, Amy Entelis was “a loyal deputy for years to Licht’s predecessor, Jeff Zucker.” So, at least for the time being, does that mean we can expect a return to CNN’s salad days from the Jeff Zucker era? Because CNN sucked plenty under Jeff Zucker, too.

I feel a disturbance in the Force, as though dozens of people sitting in airport boarding areas were mildly perturbed. https://t.co/vxIZFS0VB1

— John Hayward (@Doc_0) June 7, 2023