CNN boss Chris Licht is reportedly out of a job after suffering weeks' worth of backlash internally for the network's highly criticized town hall featuring former President Donald Trump.
According to Puck News' Dylan Byers, "Warner Bros. Discovery will announce that Licht will be stepping down as chairman and CEO of CNN" within the next 48 hours.
Byers notes that the CNN Trump town hall combined with a less-than-flattering profile of Licht in The Atlantic led to "the near-total decimation of staff morale" and left Licht with few defenders at the network.
Byers also reports that "Licht will be replaced for an interim period by Amy Entelis, the revered longtime CNN executive, talent whisperer and CNN Films chief who served as a loyal deputy for years to Licht’s predecessor, Jeff Zucker."
Licht reportedly envisioned the Trump town hall as the network's olive branch to his right-wing supporters, although this plan backfired because Trump supporters were upset by host Kaitlan Collins trying to fact check his false claims about the 2020 election being "stolen."
The town hall was so widely criticized that it even drew a public rebuke from CNN's Christiane Amanpour and Oliver Darcy, both of whom argued that Trump simply used the forum to advance lies about the 2020 election.