Meet CNN’s Amy Entelis: The News Veteran and Emerging Heir Apparent to Fired CEO Chris Licht
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The revolving door of CNN leaders continues. As of Wednesday, Chris Licht was officially out as the CEO and chairman of the news network and four executive vice presidents are overseeing CNN in the interim: Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling and David Leavy. But according to insiders who spoke with TheWrap, Entelis has emerged as the top candidate for the chief executive job.
Licht’s time as CEO was short and controversial. He lasted a little more than a year after taking the job from Jeff Zucker, who held it for nearly a decade before being ousted due to his relationship with executive Allison Gollust. Handpicked by Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, Licht was responsible for the heavily criticized Donald Trump town hall and was at the center of a scathing profile in The Atlantic.
As CNN searches for its next network leader, four CNN heads will be taking over the responsibilities of the CEO position. “We have great confidence in this group and will fully support them until a new CEO is named,” Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zalsav said in a memo to staff, stressing that they’ll be taking their time to fill the role permanently.
But who exactly are these recently promoted executives?
Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development
Though other outlets have reported Entelis will be CNN’s interim CEO, a network spokesperson told TheWrap those reports are speculative and that she’s just part of this four-person leadership team, as the network has previously announced.
However, an individual who used to work with Entelis at CNN told TheWrap that Entelis has a “huge shot” at taking over the CEO gig permanently. This individual noted that Entelis’ new position is a “triumph” for Zucker, who was very close with her and helped fund her documentary unit.
“A year or two down the line if they’re doing fine, she will hire Zucker’s production company to do something. Just watch — these people are all interlaced with each other,” this person told TheWrap.
As for Entelis’ reputation, the individual said people are accustomed to her being “politically savvy and really harsh.”
As the EVP of talent and content development, Entelis supervises the “development, production and acquisition” of original content for the global branch of the network. Since joining the company in 2012, she has overseen 45 docuseries and 60 documentary films, which have earned more than 110 awards. This includes CNN Films’ first Oscar win for “Navalny.” Under her leadership, the network also launched the CNN Originals brand, which includes CNN Original Series, CNN Films and CNN Presents.
Entelis first began her career at ABC News, where she worked as a producer on the weekly series “20/20.” During her time there, she managed talent and recruited for some of the biggest shows on the network, including “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight” and “Nightline.”
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David Zaslav Says ‘I Take Responsibility’ in Memo to CNN Staff After Chris Licht Ouster
Virginia Moseley, executive vice president of editorial
Moseley is another CNN exec who has history with ABC News. In her current position, she oversees all of CNN’s breaking news coverage. Moseley is also responsible for newsgathering for “CNN’s domestic bureaus,” which include Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Miami and Washington D.C. as well as the network’s coverage plans for the White House and the Justice Department, Defense and National Security reporting teams.
Prior to joining CNN, Moseley worked as “Good Morning America’s” senior Washington producer and oversaw all Washington reporting for the morning show. She also worked as the senior political editor during the 2006 and 2008 campaigns and spent 18 years at the network.
Moseley’s appointment to EVP in 2021 wasn’t devoid of conflict. She’s married to Thomas Nides, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. When Nides was first nominated for the role, it left many at CNN with a bad taste in their mouths. “It has conflict of interest written all over it,” a source told the New York Post, noting that even though Moseley works in domestic news, the role still “deals closely with Biden’s administration.”
At the time, CNN responded to the speculation by saying that Moseley would “recuse herself” if a Middle East story ever becomes a domestic newsgathering event.
Eric Sherling, executive vice president of U.S. programming
Of the three executives taking charge of CNN right now, Sherling is the least publicly known. Whereas Moseley focuses on the reporting side of CNN, Sherling’s position is more focused on scheduling. In his current role, Sherling oversees all live programs for CNN in the U.S. that are based in New York, Washington and Atlanta. He also manages network-wide booking, special projects and live events programming.
As CNN’s senior vice president of Washington and special events programming, Sherling was responsible for producing some of the most-watched days in CNN’s history, including the network’s coverage of the January 6 riots. He was also involved in the launch of “The Lead With Jake Tapper.” Prior to joining CNN, Sherling came from ABC, where he worked on “Good Morning America” and “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
David Leavy, chief operating officer
When it comes to Leavy, it’s the timing of his hiring that’s most interesting. Leavy is known to be close with Warner Bros. Discovery head Zaslav. In his previous position, he worked for Discovery and later Warner Bros. Discovery for 23 years. His appointment to COO on June 1 was announced a day before The Atlantic published its explosive report on Licht’s leadership.
According to CNN senior reporter Oliver Darcy, top anchors and correspondents have been reaching out to Leavy over the past 72 hours to criticize Licht. The report also noted that Zaslav “understands the dire state of affairs at his news network,” which is why he “dispatched his top lieutenant.” Leavy will officially start this new role on June 20 and will be responsible for CNN Worldwide’s commercial, operational and promotional activities.
During his 23 years at Discovery Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery, Leavy was a close associate of CEO David Zaslav. “Everyone who works with David has seen how his energy, work ethic and collaborative style positively impacts an organization, and I can’t wait for him to join me and the CNN team,” the now-departed Licht said at the time of Leavy’s hiring.
Sharon Waxman contributed to this report.
