Ex-CNN CEO Chris Licht reunited with several of his former anchors this week at a party celebrating Mediaite’s 15th anniversary, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a surprising development to come nearly one year after Licht was fired from CNN in June 2023, the former CEO appeared at Bryant Park Grill in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday to celebrate the milestone.
According to Page Six, Licht mingled with his former staffers during the party in Manhattan on Wednesday night.
But while the former CNN CEO was said to have “spoken to a few” of his former underlings, one attendee claimed that “some of CNN’s on-air talent were less excited to see [Licht]” and that they “studiously avoided him.”
Also surprising were reports that Licht "narrowly missed" former anchor Don Lemon.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Licht infamously fired Lemon from the network in April 2023 following behind-the-scenes problems with the then-CNN anchor.
While CNN confirmed that the network and Lemon had “parted ways” at the time, Lemon threw shade at both the network and Licht for not having the “decency to tell [him] directly” that he was axed.
“CNN and Don have parted ways. Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years,” the network said on April 24, 2023. “We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
“After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon subsequently responded.
Meanwhile, Mediaite’s 15th-anniversary party in Manhattan on Wednesday night was described as a “cross-network comity” between outlets like Mediaite, CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox News.
While Mediaite’s founder, Dan Abrams, and its editor-in-chief, Aidan McLaughlin, were said to have mingled with nearly everyone at the party, there were also reports that anchors from competing networks put their differences aside for the night.
MSNBC’s Morning Joehost, Joe Scarborough, reportedly greeted and spoke with Fox’s Steve Doocy in a “temporary truce” between the rival networks.
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Scarborough and Doocy even allegedly posed for pictures together.
“Joe grabbed him and pulled him over to the step-and-repeat for a photo as soon as he saw him,” one attendee said.
Elsewhere, Megyn Kelly was spotted chatting it up with former Fox colleague Julie Banderas. Bill O’Reilly, who left Fox in April 2017, was even allegedly spotted getting chummy with several CNN anchors.
“Cross-network comity was at an all-time high,” one attendee said of the night’s event.