() — Chris Licht, the embattled president and CEO of , whose brief one-year tenure at the network was marred by a series of serious mistakes, is leaving the company.
“I’ve met with Chris and he’s leaving ,” David Zaslav, chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told employees at the start of the network’s daily editorial briefing.
Licht’s departure, which came days after a devastating 15,000-word profile was published in The Atlantic, capped a tumultuous year for marked by layoffs, record low viewership ratings and rock-bottom employee morale.
In the wake of The Atlantic article, Licht apologized to staff Monday, telling the world news organization in a somber tone that he did not recognize himself reading parts of the story and was sorry he was distracted from the work of the drafting.
Licht, who described the experience as “extremely humiliating,” vowed to “fight like hell” to earn the trust of employees.
But it was becoming increasingly clear that Licht’s tenure as chief executive was rapidly coming to an end. Licht has not commented on his progress and did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zaslav said Licht’s job was “never going to be easy” and praised the “incredible career” he’s had, wishing him well in his future endeavors.
“For a number of reasons, things didn’t work out and that’s unfortunate,” Zaslav said. “It’s a shame. Ultimately, it’s my fault. And I take full responsibility for it.”
Zaslav told staff that the company is “in the process of conducting an extensive search,” both internally and externally, for a new head of the network. He warned that “it will take a while.”
Meanwhile, Zazlav said the management team will consist of Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development; Virginia Moseley, executive vice president of writing; and Eric Sherling, executive vice president of US programming, and David Leavy, recently appointed chief operating officer, will continue to oversee the company’s business activities.
