Chris Licht breaks silence hours after being axed as CNN boss trends now
Chris Licht has broken his silence after getting the axe from CNN - lauding the troubled network - wishing the team the very best and saying he's learnt a lot over the past 13 months.
Licht's departure capped a tumultuous year marked by layoffs, shrinking profits, low ratings, the firing of two anchors, and rock-bottom employee morale.
The final nail in the coffin was a damning Atlantic article which saw more than 100 CNN employees questioning his ability to lead the organization into the future.
'This was an exciting but incredibly challenging assignment and I learned a lot over the past 13 months,' Licht said in a statement.
'I've been lucky enough to have had a successful, fulfilling career and I look forward to my next chapter. I wish the team at CNN the very best, always.'
Chris Licht has broken his silence after getting the axe from CNN lauding the troubled network, wishing the team the very best and saying he's learnt a lot over the past 13 months
A desperate and 'devastated' Licht tried to cling on to his position as CEO of CNN over the weekend after the scathing article all but sealed his fate, according to network staffers.
Licht's departure from the network was announced Wednesday by David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
He had been brought on last May to overhaul the network, cleanse it of its left-wing bias and boost ratings.
In just 13 months, he orchestrated a series of anchor mishaps and masterminded disastrous town hall with Donald Trump which boosted viewer numbers momentarily but made a laughing stock of the network.
Over the weekend, The Atlantic profile - which he enthusiastically participated in - spelled out his failings and his ouster became inevitable.
CNN sources tell DailyMail.com that Licht was devastated.
'He knew that he was now on the chopping block,' one said.
In what now appears to have been a last ditch effort to win back trust, he apologized on Monday morning's editorial call.
Brian Stelter, CNN's former media correspondent who was fired by Licht, said the remarks shocked executives who knew he was on his way out.
'Over the weekend, Chris Licht still claimed there was a path forward for him at CNN. Some people politely tried to tell him that there was no coming back. No recovering. He did not, or could not, believe it.
'Licht went to Iowa for Sunday's town hall and declared on Monday that he would "fight like hell" to regain the staff's trust.
'Some high-level CNNers thought it was strange since they already knew his days were numbered. And they were right. What a sad story,' he said.
Licht was brought on to overhaul the network in May last year, following the departure of long-serving boss Jeff Zucker and after the firing of Chris Cuomo, its most successful anchor.
His mission was to cleanse the network of its inherent left-wing bias and boost ratings.
The final straw for Licht was this Atlantic profile published over the weekend in which Licht made disparaging remarks about the network's coverage before he took over
Out: CNN communications executives Matt Dornic, left, and Kristine Coratti were also fired with Licht. Dornic facilitated and sat in on many of the interviews that informed The Atlantic's piece
Instead, he insulated himself in a corporate office on the 22nd floor - five floors above the newsroom - and seemed constantly unavailable to staff who were disgusted with his efforts to bring the network back to the political center.
Ratings plummeted to their lowest ever, aside from the disastrous Trump town hall with Kaitlan Collins which was a campaign victory for Trump but an assault on CNN.
Licht had been cooperating with The Atlantic since November for its profile piece.; He provided extraordinary access to not just himself but also to hosts, studios and staff.
In the 15,000-word piece, he spoke disparagingly of the network's staff and how they'd covered topics before he came on board.
Mimicking their approach, he said: 'COVID, COVID, COVID! Look at the case numbers! Look at this! Look at this!"
'[There was] No context. And, you know, the kind of shaming. And then people walked outside and they go, "This is not my life. This is not my
