Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav voiced support for embattled CNN CEO Chris Licht despite him getting “a lot wrong” amid rumors the cable network’s chief may be shown the door, The Post has learned.
At a town hall with roughly 600 CNN managers Tuesday, the CEO of the network’s parent company stood alongside Licht and tried to rally the fractured staff.
“This is our rendezvous with destiny,” Zaslav said, according to a transcript from the town hall sent by CNN to The Post on Wednesday.
“There’s not a playbook for Chris’ job. He’s gotten a lot wrong. We’ve gotten a lot wrong. That’s how it works,” Zaslav continued. “We’re all flawed. We are trying to figure out what is best for CNN.”
The CEO added: “It’s a moment for Chris and I know it’s a moment for you and for all of us that have shared a mission.”
Zaslav full-throated defense of his hand-picked executive came after a series of leaks from within CNN speculating that Licht will be fired in the coming months as the network continues to be mired with low ratings and bad publicity from gaffes made by morning show anchor Don Lemon.
Sources told The Post that the rumors of Licht’s exit are “bullsh-t” and have been started by loyalists of ousted CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who was dumped in early 2022 for not disclosing his longtime affair with his colleague Allison Gollust.
“There are still holdouts who hope that Zucker will come back and buy CNN,” a CNN insider said, explaining that Zucker was “beloved” by some at the network.
Zucker, who now heads a joint venture with private equity firm RedBird Capital, had helped juice CNN’s ratings with a focus on left-leaning commentary that often attacked then-President Donald Trump. Zaslav brought in Licht with the mission of moving CNN’s coverage back to the center.
“We are not an advocacy network,” Zaslav said, and noted that Licht is “bringing CNN back to its roots” by leading the network to “objective journalism and telling the truth.”
A fed-up Licht also sent a clear message to managers, telling them there are people at the network that “aren’t engaged [and] we should help them find jobs somewhere else.”
CNN did not comment.
Sources said Licht’s fiery rhetoric words “ruffled feathers among Zucker loyalists.”
The town hall came as news emerged that “CNN This Morning” host Kaitlan Collins dumped the agent she shared with Lemon.
Collins, 30, had been represented by United Talent Agency superagent Jay Sures, but in recent months their relationship soured as tensions grew between the young anchor and the 57-year-old Lemon, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
“Jay was effectively not repping her,” the source said, pointing to a pivotal period after Lemon screamed at Collins off-camera for interrupting him during a Dec. 8 broadcast.
Although it is unclear when Collins severed her relationship with Sures, sources said she recently jumped ship to Ari Emanuel’s agency, William Morris Endeavor.
On Wednesday, Sures confirmed the two parted ways.
“We wish her well with her future endeavors,” Sures told The Post.
Collins declined to comment.
Lemon, Sures’ star client, has been in the middle of multiple controversies since Licht teamed the failed primetime anchor with Collins and Poppy Harlow on the revamped morning show last November.
Last month, Lemon caused a national uproar — and angered his colleagues and viewers — when he said GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley was “not in her prime.”
He was made to apologize and undergo unspecified training, but the last-placed show continues to flounder.
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