Supper cringe for ex-CNNers

AWKWARD sauce was on the menu Thursday night as major media execs jockeyed for position at Polo Bar.

Two former CNN bigs — president Jeff Zucker and anchor Don Lemon — were at the hot spot celebrating United Talent Agency vice chairman Jay Sures’ birthday.

But another deposed CNN power player kept his distance at the tony eatery — recently canned CEO Chris Licht, who awkwardly dined across the room with an unnamed tech executive.

A stream of well-wishers stopped by Sures’ table to wish the power agent a happy 57th birthday, including First Lady Jill Biden, designer Tamara Mellon and her partner, former CAA head Mike Ovitz, Kelly Clarkson and Rita Wilson. (A source said Biden “knew Jay and she knew Don and a few others at [Sures’] table. She said happy birthday.”)

Licht was apparently glancing over, according to another spy, who told us, “He did not go over and say hello.”

Another source told us that savvy hosts at the Polo Bar kept Licht at a safe distance from Sures’ table, where Lemon (whom Licht fired) and Zucker (whom Licht replaced, but who continued to have loyal allies within CNN after his tenure was over) supped.

A source said Licht was seated at a far-off table because “it would just be too awkward. They pushed him off to the side.”

Also at Sures’ table for eight was Zucker’s significant other, Allison Gollust. She was Zucker's lieutenant at the news network, and he resigned last year when their relationship came to light. Gollust resigned soon after.

The other guests were Lemon’s fiancé, Tim Malone, Sures’ wife of four months, Linda Nyvltova, NewsNation host Dan Abrams and ABC News correspondent Rebecca Jarvis.

A rep for the restaurant could not be reached, and Licht did not comment.

But another source who caught all the awkward action confirmed Licht was seated on the opposite side of the dining room “at one of the four ‘quarter tables’ . . . He wasn’t pushed off to the side, and he couldn’t see them.”