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Former CNN CEO Chris Licht continues to eat crow over an unflattering June 2023 profile of him in The Atlantic, which captured the former Late Show producer alternatively bragging and appearing to take moves to make the storied cable news network more appealing to Trump fans.
“The Atlantic article I absolutely should not have done,” Licht said over the weekend at a New York Press Club event.
“Now, I hadn’t failed at anything before. So it was I absolutely thought, you know what, it’s been a year, they’re going to be writing about ‘wow, look at all these great things that have happened,’” he went on. “So, no, I should have done that. Definitely should not have taken a reporter to the gym. If I can say one thing to anybody, do not bring a reporter to the gym!”
In the profile, by Tim Alberta, Licht brags about his prowess in the gym, claiming, “Zucker couldn’t do this s***,” a reference to former CNN president Jeff Zucker.
Elsewhere in the article, even as Licht spoke of trying to restore CNN’s reputation as “a source of absolute truth,” the leader also admitted CNN expected an “extra Trumpy” crowd for the Republican’s first live appearance on the network since 2016.
In the widely panned event, Trump continued to make false claims about the 2020 election, claimed the January 6 Capitol insurrection was “beautiful,” and lashed out at a recent verdict finding he was liable for sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll.
The town hall was one of numerous tumultous events during Licht’s tenure, which lasted little over a year and ended days after the Atlantic piece came out.
During this period, big-name talent including Don Lemon, Brian Stelter, John Harwood, and Jeffrey Toobin left the network.
The network continues to struggle. After the election, the network reportedly notched its worst ratings with the key 25-54 age demographic since the year 2000, what one columnist called a “Trump slump” in ratings.
In October, CNN launched a digital paywall for some of its news stories.
