At Mediaite’s 15th anniversary party at Bryant Park Grill, former CNN boss Chris Licht narrowly missed running into his ex-anchor, Don Lemon. This comes after Licht’s controversial decision to let Lemon go last year, before eventually being ousted from the news network in a Warner Bros. Discovery shake-up. Despite making rounds and speaking to several CNN staffers at the party, some of the network’s on-air talent seemed less than thrilled to see Licht and actively avoided him.
The event turned into a media love-fest with Mediaite founder Dan Abrams and editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin presiding over the evening’s festivities. Cross-network comradery was at an all-time high, with even rival networks MSNBC and Fox News engaging in temporary truces. Joe Scarborough and Steve Doocy greeted each other in a surprising display of friendliness, with Scarborough even pulling Doocy over for a photo op at the step-and-repeat. This friendly atmosphere extended to other media personalities as well, with Megyn Kelly catching up with former Fox colleague Julie Banderas, Bill O’Reilly mingling with CNN anchors, and Geraldo Rivera socializing with Sunny Hostin and Jim Acosta.
Among the other notable personalities spotted at the party were Ben Sherwood, Pat Kiernan, Ari Melber, Abby Phillip, Andrew Ross Sorkin, John Berman, and Elie Honig. The event provided a rare opportunity for media figures from various networks to come together and celebrate Mediaite’s milestone anniversary. Despite the occasional awkward encounter or strained interaction, overall, the evening seemed to be a success in promoting a sense of unity and camaraderie within the media industry.