CNN CEO Chris Licht out after Trump town hall fallout, brutal Atlantic article

Chris Licht is out at CNN after leading the news network for a little more than a year, parent company Warner Bros Discovery announced Wednesday morning.

The company said it is seeking a replacement. In the meantime, executives Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling and David Leavy will lead CNN, the company said.

Licht’s departure came as he faced a rebellion among CNN’s talent and staff. His tenure was riddled with programming missteps and rock-bottom ratings.

He drew even more heated criticism in recent weeks after the network hosted a town hall with Donald Trump that was packed with scores of the former president’s cheering fans. While the event drew 3.3 million viewers, CNN’s ratings plummeted afterward. Two days after the town hall, CNN’s primetime viewership came in below right wing outlet Newsmax, a much smaller network.

But it was an unflattering 15,000-word profile of Licht in The Atlantic that might have sealed his fate. He apologized to staffers Monday morning, but top brass at CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, including CEO David Zaslav, weren’t happy with the article and the aftermath.