WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar will exit CNN parent company following merger with Discovery

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WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced Tuesday he will exit the company. 

WarnerMedia, which is the parent company to CNN, is expected to finalize a long-planned merger with Discovery next week. Discovery CEO David Zaslav will oversee the combined venture, and TV industry veteran Chris Licht has been selected to run CNN once the deal is final. Kilar was never expected to stick around but made it official with a memo to employees. 

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar will exit the company. (Mayama/Bloomberg via Getty Images) (Getty Images)

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"With the pending transaction with Discovery nearing close, now is the right time to share with each of you that I will be departing this amazing company," Kilar wrote in a memo.

"Leading this team has been the honor of my lifetime," he wrote in the memo that was obtained by Fox News Digital. 

Kilar is widely disliked inside CNN and largely viewed as the person who forced ex-CNN boss Jeff Zucker to resign earlier this year. Zucker, who was beloved by many CNN underlings who often referred to him simply as "JZ," was thought to have a longstanding feud with Kilar, the head of CNN’s parent company.

Some CNN insiders thought Kilar simply wanted to eliminate Zucker to personal reasons, while others felt he was tasked with doing Discovery’s dirty work. Zaslav has denied any involvement with the decision. 

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Kilar initially claimed Zucker had to step down because he failed to disclose a consensual sexual relationship with a fellow CNN executive, but later admitted Zucker violated the network’s news standards and practices. Kilar never explained what exactly Zucker did to violate the rules.

Jeff Zucker was forced to resign earlier this year.   (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for WarnerMedia) (Getty Images)

Shortly after Zucker was forced out, CNN staffers in the network’s Washington, D.C., bureau had a fiery confrontation with Kilar as the high-powered executive attempted to justify the departure of their leader. CNN hosts and anchors showered Zucker with praise, demanding answers from Kilar to no avail. 

CNN personalities including Kaitlin Collins, Jake Tapper, Jim Acosta and Dana Bash grilled Kilar about Zucker’s ousting, but Kilar was vague when attempting to explain what happened.  

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Kilar eventually had similar meetings with CNN colleagues at other bureaus, but the network’s in-house media reporter Brian Stelter, who often serves as a de facto public relations figure, noted "the staffers sounded unpersuaded" by Kilar’s attempt to smooth things over. 

Industry insiders have since speculated that Zucker was so beloved simply because he paid hosts lucrative salaries despite dismal ratings.