CNN denied reports that media reporter Oliver Darcy will leave the network after the “Reliable Sources” writer was reportedly called on the carpet by cable boss Chris Licht for airing internal backlash over the Trump town hall.
Darcy, who replaced Brian Stelter as the network’s top media voice, wondered aloud to colleagues whether he should quit or if he would be fired after he was summoned to a meeting with Licht on Thursday, according to Semafor.
However, CNN gave Darcy a vote of confidence on Monday.
“Oliver does not intend to resign and his newsletter will be out per usual this evening,” CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic told The Post in an email.
Darcy doubted his future at CNN after reporting that CNN and Licht were “facing a fury of criticism — both internally and externally over Wednesday’s town hall,” during which Trump denigrated the network’s moderator and star anchor, Kaitlan Collins, and also mocked E. Jean Carroll, the woman who successfully sued him after claiming that he raped her.
Licht reportedly said he wanted to see more objective coverage of all news outlets, not just CNN, from Darcy, according to Semafor.
“I’m asking you to not be emotional,” the source paraphrased what Licht told Darcy at the meeting on Thursday, Semafor reported.
Darcy reportedly pushed back on Licht’s characterization, insisting that the reporting was an accurate reflection of sentiment within the company, according to Semafor.
CNN employees were said to have been particularly irked by an unnamed source’s comments to Fox News, who described Darcy as “visibly shaken” after the meeting with Licht.
Staffers told Semafor that Darcy’s newsletter item was vetted by CNN’s top editorial executives before it was published.
Virginia Moseley, CNN’s vice president of editorial, and Rachel Smolkin, the network’s senior vice president of global news, who signed off on Darcy’s newsletter item, were both in attendance at Thursday’s meeting between Darcy and Licht, according to Semafor.
The two were “relatively quiet” as Licht read Darcy the riot act, Semafor reported.
CNN’s town hall with Trump, which featured an in-studio audience of applauding Trump supporters, generated intense backlash against the network, whose new management under corporate parent Warner Bros. Discovery is seeking a pivot away from left-leaning commentary and toward middle-of-the-road hard news.
The town hall did pay off for CNN in the ratings as the event pulled in an estimated 3.3 million viewers.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
