A weekend report from Puck’s Dylan Byers claimed CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy was summoned to the office of CNN CEO Chris Licht over his encapsulation that Licht was receiving strong pushback both internally and externally for the network’s decision to host a town hall event with former President Donald Trump. Podcaster — and longtime Licht critic — Keith Olbermann took issue with the development.
To begin Countdown with Keith Olbermann Monday, the former cable news host scanned the reporting surrounding the purported meeting, noting the conflicting details between Byers’ reporting, Semafor’s Max Tani’s report, and a story from Fox News on the meeting.
In one report, Darcy has reportedly questioned whether he should resign at risk of being fired, with another report claiming that Darcy and Licht left the meeting cordially, with the CEO expressing his support for the reporter.
“So now instead of bullying and threatening Oliver Darcy, we have Licht, instead, having a quote ally of his leak — to of all places — Fox that CNN employees were all on Licht’s side, not Darcy’s side,” Olbermann said. “There’s the Chris Licht at MSNBC I knew and loathed.
“It was Licht of course who — when plucked from his failures at late night with Stephen Colbert, which had followed his failures at CBS Mornings, which themselves had followed his failures on Morning Joe and Scarborough Country — vowed to make sure all voices were heard at the new CNN. Except for Oliver Darcy, who also again I note, still has not been publicly or non-anonymously supported by anyone else at CNN. Who may or may not have had ‘the fear of god put in him’ by Chris Licht, but has had the fear of unemployment.”
