Media insiders react as CNN’s embattled CEO steps down: ‘The only person who hates bad press more than Chris Licht is… David Zaslav.’

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CNN CEO Chris Licht has stepped down after a damning profile in The Atlantic signaled the end to a tumultuous 14 months on the job.

Licht stepped into the role in April 2022 after the merger that formed Warner Bros. Discovery, replacing former CNN boss Jeff Zucker. His tenure at the company was plagued by missteps including a disastrous Trump town hall that brought staff morale to new lows and led some of the network’s top anchors to voice concerns, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav joined a Wednesday editorial meeting to announce Licht’s departure to CNN staffers as word of his imminent exit began to spread in the media, CNN’s senior media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote.

CNN staffers and other media insiders swiftly reacted to the news on social media. Some had previously predicted his ouster was imminent after the shocking amount of access given to The Atlantic for its critical profile of Licht.

“The only person who hates bad press more than Chris Licht is … David Zaslav,” said Brian Stelter, CNN’s former chief media correspondent in a Wednesday morning tweet, before telling followers a major announcement was expected at CNN. 

NY1’s Jamie Stelter, who is married to Brian, said in a tweet that his CNN colleagues had been venting all the previous weekend about Licht, “saying there is no way this guy could stay.”

“I knew by Sunday that Licht was out,” she said.

Tech journalist and podcast host Kara Swisher, who previously predicted a decision about Licht’s future would be made this week, said in a tweet on Wednesday that the writing had been on the wall because staff was in a “major uproar and now not hiding it,” and trouble was “getting far too close to the king (Zaslav).”

Swisher also speculated on CNN’s next move, saying the “jaw dropper” would be to bring back Zucker, who was forced to resign in early 2022 after failing to disclose a relationship with a colleague. The company has begun its search for the next CEO and appointed interim leadership. 

Other media insiders, including Glenn Greenwald and the New York Times’ Edmund Lee, pointed out that CNN’s problems weren’t Licht’s alone. 

“CNN was already in ‘free fall’ and ‘collapse’ when Licht was hired,” Greenwald tweeted. 

Lee said: “Yes, Licht screwed up. But was it inevitable? David Zaslav, the head of the parent company, and John Malone, a big investor, have very specific *editorial ideas for how news should work. That creates a near impossible situation for anyone appointed to lead the newsroom.”