Chris Licht is leaving CNN — after doing horrible damage to the network’s reputation by allowing interview with Donald Trump

Chris Licht is leaving CNN — after doing horrible damage to the network’s reputation.

“I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told CNN employees at the start of the network’s daily editorial call Wednesday.

Licht’s departure, which came days after a devastating 15,000-word profile in The Atlantic, capped a tumultuous year for CNN, marked by layoffs, historically low ratings, and rock-bottom employee morale.

Chris Licht, the former television producer who oversaw a brief and chaotic run as the chairman of CNN, is out at the network.

Mr. Licht’s 13-month run at CNN was marked by one controversy after another, culminating in his exit earlier this week. He got off to a bumpy start even before he had officially started when he oversaw the shuttering of the costly CNN+ streaming service at the request of its network’s new owners, who were skeptical about a stand-alone digital product. The cuts resulted in scores of layoffs.

David Zaslav, the chief executive of CNN’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, informed staff on Wednesday morning that he had met with Mr. Licht and that he was leaving, effective immediately.

David Zaslav, the chief executive of CNN’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, informed staff on Wednesday morning that he had met with Mr. Licht and that he was leaving, effective immediately.

“For a number of reasons things didn’t work out, and that’s unfortunate,” Mr. Zaslav said, according to a recording of his remarks. “It’s really unfortunate, and ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”

In the wake of The Atlantic article, Licht apologized to staffers Monday, telling the global news organization in a somber tone that he did not recognize himself when reading portions of the story and that he was sorry for having distracted from the newsroom’s work.

Licht, who described the experience as “tremendously humbling,” vowed to “fight like hell” to win over the trust of employees.

But it became increasingly clear that Licht’s tenure as the chief executive was quickly coming to an end. Licht has not commented on his departure and he did not immediately respond to requests for comment.