CNN woes won’t dim his Licht

FORMER CNN CEO Chris Licht was spotted during Oscars week seemingly without a care in the world at the San Vicente Bungalows, Hollywood’s starriest private club.

The ousted exec was solo in the corner of the club’s private open-air library, texting with his feet up. Maybe Licht’s had the last laugh?

The self-proclaimed “most trusted name in news” is fighting an uphill battle to remain relevant two years after Discovery took it over, sources tell us.

Anderson Cooper is the network’s only prime time star remaining after CNN axed Chris Cuomo in December 2021 and moved Don Lemon to mornings in November 2022, only to fire him months later under Licht’s watch.

Licht himself was booted this past June, and since Mark Thompson took the helm in October, insiders feel talent has become even more of an afterthought.

In an effort to boost ratings, presumably, CNN invited Lemon back to promote his interview with Elon Musk — but we hear the anchor wouldn’t go back permanently if they asked him. “He has no thoughts of returning to CNN,” a source told Page Six.

Another source told us the network couldn’t hire top news talent even if they wanted to: “It doesn’t seem to be a priority, and they don’t have the money to find the next big star.”

We hear Poppy Harlow is in limbo at CNN since it canceled her morning show. And the situation is even more bleak for people who work behind the camera, with one source telling us, “A lot of staffers are losing their jobs.”

But the network seems to be banking on its lesser known female talent to save prime time, where it’s promoted Laura Coates, Abby Phillip and Kaitlan Collins.

The network is “really contemplating their future and looking at this year as a pivot year.” There are hiccups, though, and one major problem. “Nobody knows what the pivot’s going to be,” our source concluded.

CNN did not comment.