CNN chief executive Chris Licht has stepped down

Chris Licht has stepped down as CEO of CNN, the global news network’s parent company said Wednesday.

CNN “will be conducting a wide search, internally and externally, for a new leader,” David Zaslav, Warners Bros. Discovery CEO, told CNN staff in a memo sent Wednesday.

Zaslav praised Licht, a former television producer for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” saying he “has a deep love for journalism.”

“This job was never going to be easy, especially at a time of great disruption and transformation, and Chris poured his heart and soul into it,” Zaslav said in the email. “Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we had hoped — and ultimately that’s on me.”

Puck News first reported Licht’s departure.

Licht took over CNN just over a year ago, and was tasked with reshaping the network’s news coverage to be less partisan and more nuanced than it had been during Donald Trump’s presidency. But falling ratings, the abrupt closure of streaming service CNN+ and widespread internal criticism, including over a recent town hall with Trump, scuttled those plans.

CNN faced immediate backlash after the town hall, where the former president repeated 2020 election lies; dodged questions on abortion; mocked E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual abuse; and celebrated Jan. 6 rioters.

Licht was also at the helm when the network fired longtime anchor Don Lemon. The anchorman came under fire earlier this year after he made comments about women being in their “prime” during a segment about 51-year-old Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. In April, Variety published a report about Lemon’s alleged hostility and misogynistic behavior toward his female colleagues.