CNN begins layoffs under Chris Licht: 'Difficult time for everyone'

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CNN has begun layoffs as part of a wider cost-cutting measure under new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, telling employees Wednesday it would begin notifying affected staffers.

In a memo to all CNN colleagues obtained by Fox News Digital, CEO Chris Licht described it as a "difficult time for everyone" and noted that the initial cuts would largely center around "paid contributors."

"Today we will notify a limited number of individuals, largely some of our paid contributors, as part of a recalibrated reporting strategy," Licht wrote. "Tomorrow, we will notify impacted employees, and tomorrow afternoon I will follow up with more details on these changes."

"Let's take care of each other this week," he added.

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A CNN insider told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that "morale is as low as it's ever been" at the company, as anxious staffers wonder about their job status. They described some employees, however, as possibly welcoming the severance and a fresh start if they indeed did lose their jobs.

Jeff Zucker, left, was forced out earlier this year as president of CNN. Chris Licht, right, took over in the spring. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Licht, who took over CNN after the ousting of Jeff Zucker, was tasked by boss David Zaslav earlier this year with making a further $100 million in cuts as part of a broader Warner Bros. Discovery budget-slicing effort, according to a Puck report. Licht initially told staffers this summer that layoffs were not on the horizon, but Zaslav's directive changed his plans.

At a tense town hall on Nov. 15, Licht was asked by one employee whether he could be trusted again, given his earlier remarks about not anticipating layoffs. A CNN spokesman noted at the time that Licht also said in June that there would be an assessment of which resources should go where at CNN, and there could be "some changes there." Licht said at the town hall that the layoffs were expected to be done by early December.

Licht has already put his stamp on the network in less than a year on the job, scaling back CNN's original programming and documentaries, dropping the ax on the short-lived streaming service CNN+ and moving primetime host Don Lemon to a new AM show, "CNN This Morning," with co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.

Don Lemon was recently moved from primetime to CNN's new morning program. (CNN/screenshot)

Perhaps the splashiest changes came with the high-profile departures of Brian Stelter, John Harwood and Jeffrey Toobin, three left-leaning figures in ostensibly non-partisan roles, respectively, as media correspondent, White House correspondent and legal analyst.

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Under Zucker, CNN lurched toward the left, particularly in response to the political rise of Donald Trump. Licht, who was previously showrunner for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," has sought in some ways to push the network back to the middle, although the presence of Lemon — a liberal primetime host for years — on CNN's "reimagined" news-heavy morning show raised some eyebrows.

Coincidentally, Lemon appeared on Colbert's program on Monday, where the left-wing comedian was surprised when Lemon denied the network was ever "liberal."

"What?" Colbert said. "That's not me saying that, that's the people out there saying he's not letting you be liberal anymore."

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"Well, listen, I think what Chris is saying is that he wants Republicans — sensible Republicans, he wants us to hold people to account, but he wants people to come on and feel comfortable with coming on and talking on CNN and appearing on CNN," Lemon said.