“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough once again came to the defense of former CNN CEO Chris Licht on Friday after — according to Scarborough — the infamous The Atlantic article about Licht being allowed to dictate the decision to fire Licht. The target was straight.
“Let me just say this about my friend Chris Licht at CNN,” Scarborough began, “Chris made mistakes, didn’t he? He made mistakes and like I said, he learned from those mistakes. Zaslav made the decision to fire him or let him go. It’s Zaslav’s decision. However, let me just tell you this: Let’s get Chris and Zass out of this. If I were a CEO, I’d be dead before I let a magazine article determine who I’m going to hire or fire. I’d call her in and say ‘You screwed up, shut your mouth, put your head down, do the job I hired you to do, and we’re going to put this behind us.’
A long and unflattering profile of Licht was issued in The Atlantic on Friday, June 2. The following Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav fired Licht after the embattled CNN chief apologized to his staff for “overshadowing” the newsroom’s reporting. ,
Scarborough’s comments came during a segment about how Bud Light handled backlash for promoting its beer to trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
“What happens is, like we’ve talked about with Nike, like we’ve talked about with the NFL, you don’t let people dictate your terms,” Scarborough continued. “If people are pissed about Bud Light — you know, it’s funny, Chris quoted me as [Atlantic] The piece, ‘Scared money never wins.’ This applied to his firing! That’s scared money. Keep your head down and don’t let other people tell you what to do with your blanking company.
Zaslav took responsibility for Licht’s rocky tenure as CNN CEO in a memo to employees on the day of Licht’s firing.
Zaslav said, “I have known Chris for many years and have great respect for him personally and professionally.” “This job was never going to be easy, especially in a time of great disruption and change, and Chris poured his heart and soul into it. He has a deep love for journalism and this business, and this was evident during his tenure Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way we had hoped – and ultimately it’s on me. I take responsibility. Needless to say, we appreciate Chris’s efforts and dedication and wish him all the best Let’s give
A new quartet of executives is running CNN in an interim capacity as Zaslav searches for a permanent replacement for Licht. In a memo to staff, Amy Entellis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling and David Levy, who were brought on as COOs of CNN Worldwide prior to Licht’s dismissal, pledged to “seize the moment” and said they would “Fully committed to becoming the champion that matters” Work is being done in all the teams around the world.
