CNN boss Chris Licht described himself as ‘a machine’ for skipping meals after losing 50 pounds

CNN boss Chris Licht has described himself as “a machine” for skipping meals after losing 50 pounds, with the help of early gym sessions and trainer Joe Maysonet.

The CEO weighed 226 pounds in 2020 and after following a restrictive diet and fitness regimen, he dropped to 178 pounds in March this year after visiting the exclusive J Train gym in New York City.

According to a profile written by Atlantic staff writer Tim AlbertaScared that he was losing control of his lifestyle, Licht decided to go all in on his fitness regimen.

After Alberta asked him why he decided to skip meals, Licht said, “I’m a ****** machine.”

The 51-year-old also hit back at his CNN CEO Jeff Zucker during his drills, saying, “Zucker couldn’t do this.”

Light, pictured here in 2016, said he weighed 226 pounds prior to his lifestyle turnaround

Joe Maysonet, pictured here, owns the J Train gym in Manhattan, which is known for its celebrity clientele

Light’s gym, J Train, located in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood, is owned by Joe Maysonet and is known for its celebrity clientele.

Licht had become chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide in February 2022, following the resignation of his predecessor Jeff Zucker.

Zucker was kicked off the network after it emerged he was having an affair with a CNN executive.

He left the $6 million-a-year position after admitting to employees that he violated the company’s standards of business conduct when he failed to have a “consensual relationship” with Allison Gollust, 49, the company’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. network announced. .

In his resignation announcement, he acknowledged that he was “wrong” in not disclosing the relationship when it began.

Zucker and Gollust lived in the same apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with their respective families until Zucker sold his in 2020, after he and his ex-wife Caryn Nathanson separated.

Speculation at the time pointed the finger at former host Chris Cuomo for betraying their relationship.

Cuomo’s lawyers allegedly told Jason Kilar, the CEO of WarnerMedia – CNN’s parent company. He then informed AT&T boss John Stankey.

Cuomo was also fired from the company for allegedly using his influence to help his brother, former governor Andrew Cuomo, deal with sexual assault allegations.

In the Atlantic articleit was also revealed that fired CNN host Don Lemon and Licht had gotten into a fight over a wardrobe

In early November, during a final rehearsal for the launch of CNN This Morning, Lemon stunned producers by returning to the set after a break wearing a white fur-collared jacket over a turtleneck.

“What the hell is he wearing?” Licht blurted out in the control room, according to a firsthand account by Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta, who was there working on a comprehensive profile of Licht.

A junior producer hesitantly conveyed Licht’s concern through Lemon’s earpiece and drew a “miffed” look from the CNN host as he said, “Don, uhh, we’re not too crazy about the jacket here.”

Alberta’s first-hand account details a number of incidents of friction between Licht and Lemon during rehearsal four days before the November 8 opening of the CNN morning show starring Lemon, Kaitlan Collins, and Poppy Harlow.

Lemon was fired from CNN in April after a 17-year stint there, in a move widely viewed as part of Licht’s campaign to break the network’s liberal image and reinvent it as a down-the-line middle, facts-first news organization.

The report also details behind-the-scenes tensions between Don Lemon (center) and CNN CEO Chris Licht during a rehearsal for CNN This Morning last fall.

Licht, 51, took over as chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide in February 2022, following the resignation of his predecessor Jeff Zucker

A former executive producer of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Licht was directed by David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, hired for the top job at CNN.

At Zaslav’s behest, Licht’s mission was to steer CNN toward more objective reporting and try to win over more conservative-leaning voters.

But the hallmark of that campaign, last month’s CNN interview with Donald Trump at town hall, has drawn scathing reactions from some of the network’s own journalists.

They criticized the format, in which Trump attacked interviewer Collins as an “annoying person” and repeated falsehoods about the election to an audience of cheering fans.

Veteran correspondent Christiane Amanpour publicly slammed city hall in comments against graduating students at Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism.