The PR pros at CNN just got fired along with CEO Chris Licht, even though that disastrous Atlantic profile was his passion project
- CNN chair and CEO Chris Licht was ousted from the network on Wednesday.
- His top two communications people were also fired.
I guess the lesson is: when your boss is about to do something really stupid, throw your body in the way. Even if he's your new boss and seems really obsessed. One, two, three – JUMP – right in their way. Make them walk around your wiggling carcass on the floor. Throw a leg up if they try to go over you.
I say that because, last Friday, The Atlantic published a brutal 15,000+ word profile on CNN chair and CEO Chris Licht and today – well, today he got fired.
But it wasn't just him. Along with a bunch of other execs close to him, his top two communications people, Kris Coratti Kelly, and her lieutenant Matt Dornic, were shown the door.
That's not super surprising news because anytime a CEO goes, a new CEO will eventually come in, and the wise ones often hire their own teams.
But it is a tiny bit surprising because, after speaking with five sources with first-hand knowledge of how the nightmare Atlantic story came together over the weekend, I came away convinced that no one but Licht himself was dying to do the profile.
Dornic is friendly with The Atlantic's writer, Tim Alberta, so he went along with it.
But it was Licht who pushed the project forward over the summer of 2022, including over a long dinner with the writer.
Kelly didn't even join until August 2022. She was skeptical, I'm told by a few people, but eventually relented.