CNN's new CEO mostly ignored his staff at a holiday party and read critical coverage about himself on his phone instead: report
- Angry staffers and low ratings have plagued CNN CEO Chris Licht's first year on the job.
- At a holiday party, Licht mostly kept to himself and read bad publicity about himself instead of interacting with his staff.
CNN CEO Chris Licht has been on the job for just over a year. In that time, CNN has suffered through low ratings and even lower employee morale, fired one star anchor, hosted a widely-criticized town hall with former President Donald Trump, and dismantled its much-touted new morning program. A damning new profile of Licht in The Atlantic written by Tim Alberta reveals the CEO was as fascinated with his own bad press as everyone else:
It's unclear which Puck story caught Licht's attention, but the new media startup has made the CEO and CNN a repeated target of its reporting.
Alberta was granted a tremendous amount of access for the profile, allowing him to witness firsthand all kinds of behind-the-scenes interactions, like Licht criticizing then-anchor Don Lemon's on-air outfit.
"What the fuck is he wearing?" Licht said of Lemon's fur-lined white jacket. A producer told Lemon they weren't a fan of the jacket and after the next commercial break it was gone.
Later in the profile, Licht explained some of his views on diversity to Alberta.
If Licht elaborated on his plans to hire more public-housing residents into the ranks at CNN, Alberta didn't quote him on it.
A representative for CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.