Chief Vows CNN No Longer Home To 'Partisan Hackery'

CNN boss Chris Licht said his third-place cable news network will no longer be home to “partisan hackery” or “idealogical talking points” as continues to revamp the lineup.

Licht vowed the changes he hopes to implement at CNN are meant to “restore trust” to the tarnished brand — which once billed itself as “The Most Trusted Name in News” — in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

One of Licht’s biggest tasks includes reshaping CNN’s coveted 9 pm slot, which was held by Chris Cuomo before he was fired in lage 2021.

The NY Post reports the exec addressed reports that he is looking for a comedian to fill that slot to juice the ratings, but he did not give specifics on who the network is interviewing. Names like Bill Maher, Trevor Noah Jon Stewart and Arsenio Hall have been bandied about in recent weeks.

“We are in conversations with culturally relevant individuals from the worlds of entertainment, sports and comedy who can bring fresh and unique perspectives to the news,” Licht said.

When pressed how CNN could remain non-partisan with an opinionated comedian as a host, Licht added: “There is nothing wrong with opinion or perspective, especially in prime time, but it has to be authentic. We are completely uninterested in partisan hackery and ideological talking points.”

On Monday, CNN announced Maher will appear on the network on Friday nights at 11:30 pm as it takes advantage of its partnership with sister channel HBO to air “Overtime,” the post-show segment of “Real Time With Bill Maher.” Both channels are owned by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.

In his LA Times interview, Licht also discussed traveling to Washington to meet with Republican lawmakers to convince them they’d get a fair interview on CNN, which had been accused of a left-leaning bias under Licht’s predecessor Jeff Zucker.