Who was that unmasked man?

Shorter Chris Licht: “Now that my big mouth has revealed to all the world what a big ass I am, I must confess … I don’t recognize that guy who was a big mouthed ass in that massive feature article on someone. Who happens to be me.”

In a somber tone, Licht on Monday apologized to employees for having distracted from the work of the newsroom, which has broken a string of recent stories related to the probes into Donald Trump. He said that he “should not be in the news, unless it is taking arrows” for the network. And he said that he did not recognize the person portrayed in portions of The Atlantic article.

As an aside, I keep seeing words like “brutal” to describe the results of the months of on-the-record interviews that Licht granted to Tim Alberta. That only makes sense if the word is followed by “self-own.”

Anyway, Licht’s late-stage mea culpa was very drama, much emotion. Did they buy it?

In the wake of The Atlantic’s explosive story, I’ve spoken with dozens of staffers across the company. There are a wide range of emotions coursing through the halls of CNN. Some staffers are frustrated. Others are angry. Many are sad about the awful state of affairs that has taken hold of an organization they love.

There is one near-universal sentiment, however, that has been communicated to me: Licht has lost the room.

If the room is extremely lucky Licht will get lost.

People who post-off topic comments think Chris Licht is a journalistic genius.