Crisis at CBS as News Chief Resigns: Wendy McMahon Had ‘Set a Red Line’ on Apologizing to Trump for ‘60 Minutes’

The embattled CEO of CBS News and Stations, Wendy McMahon, is out at the Tiffany Network as parent company Paramount actively tries to reach a settlement with President Trump over his lawsuit regarding the October 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Harris. In a memo to staff, Ms. McMahon, who is a longtime veteran of local station groups and is not a journalist, said her time as the head of CBS News has been “one of the most meaningful chapters in my career.” She added, “At the same time, the past few months have been challenging. It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.”Ms. McMahon’s departure from the network has been expected for months. A media reporter, Oliver Darcy, in his closely read “Status” newsletter said Ms. McMahon had set “a red line” over apologizing for the “60 Minutes” Harris interview. An apology is expected to be part of any settlement, though the form of apology, and who delivers or signs onto it, is unclear. Mr. Trump is believed to be demanding an on-camera apology by a marquee talent, similar to how, in 2004, Dan Rather said “I’m sorry” on air regarding a botched “60 Minutes” segment on George W. Bush’s military service.Indeed, Ms. McMahon’s tenure has come under intense scrutiny over her reported disagreement with executives at Paramount over how to handle Mr. Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over the Harris interview, which was pre-taped. During the editing process, “60 Minutes” producers removed a “word salad” from the beginning of Ms. Harris’s answer to a question about Israel. Mr. Trump alleges the editing could have cost him the 2024 election and recently said, during a Cabinet meeting, that he thought CBS should pay “a lot.” CBS News has been denounced by President Trump for its editing of the ’60 Minutes’ Kamala Harris interview. CBS NewsIn her goodbye note, Ms. McMahon said that she “spent the last few months shoring up our businesses and making sure the right leaders are in place.”The memo ended with her expressing appreciation for CBS News viewers and the staff at the network as well as for the CEO of CBS, George Cheeks. She did not mention executives at Paramount.CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. Her resignation comes weeks after the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, resigned under pressure. In his goodbye note, he said he had lost the ability to make independent decisions for the program. Wendy McMahon received a strong vote of support from her boss, George Cheeks, after she came under criticism for her deputy’s reprimand of a ‘CBS Mornings’ co-host, Tony Dokoupil, for how he challenged Ta-Nehisi Coates over his virulent anti-Israel views. Getty ImagesThe resignation notes from Mr. Owens and Ms. McMahon were remarkable for their frankness about disagreements with corporate management — and a sign of the high degree of discord behind the scenes on West 57th Street and Melrose Avenue. Most departures at their level are guided by lucrative separation agreements that involve discretion and announcements that paper over the real reasons for the exits.The current status of the settlement talks between Paramount and Mr. Trump is not entirely clear. A veteran entertainment reporter, Matthew Belloni, reported earlier this month that the talks had ended with a “whimper” because the two sides were “far apart” on potential settlement terms. The negotiations came as the matriarch of the family that controls Paramount, Shari Redstone, had been pushing for a settlement, believing that it was the best way to ensure the Federal Communications Commission approves Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media. The chairman of the agency, Brendan Carr, has said a news distortion complaint stemming from the Harris interview could factor into his decision of whether to approve the deal — though he insists Mr. Trump’s lawsuit is unrelated to the review process. Multiple reports have said that Ms. Redstone has taken herself out of conversations about a settlement and left the discussions up to the three chief executives at Paramount. The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount’s board had agreed to pay up to $20 million to settle the lawsuit. However, Mr. Trump is believed to be seeking much more. Some estimates of a potential settlement have reached as high as $75 million, according to Puck’s Dylan Byers. For Ms. Redstone, the success or failure of the Skydance deal could be the difference between a major payout or being on the hook for a $400 million kill fee. The executive chairwoman of Paramount Global, Shari Redstone, on November 7, 2024, at New York City. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesAs the Skydance deal has appeared to be on hold, executives at Paramount have reportedly taken steps to exert more control over the notoriously independent “60 Minutes,” which spent much of the first four months of Mr. Trump’s administration criticizing his policies and spending cuts. Ms. Redstone asked if “60 Minutes” could hold off on stories critical of Mr. Trump until the Skydance deal was approved, Mr. Byers reported. The “60 Minutes” season ended Sunday evening, and the show will not be back on the air until the fall, thus removing one burr that had been irritating both sides during negotiations. With the season over, the “60 Minutes” staff will not be able to use their airtime as a megaphone to insult their parent company, as they did on the Sunday following Mr. Owens’s resignation. Mr. Belloni, who a few months ago said Ms. McMahon “will be gone in six months,” predicted more recently that she would resign in protest if an apology was required as part of the settlement. Meanwhile, Mr. Byers reported that executives at Skydance had decided to fire her once the deal with Skydance was consummated. Beside the reported frustration of Ms. McMahon’s objections to a settlement, her tenure has been marred by a series of controversies at the network and questions about her leadership and lack of experience in a national newsroom. Ms. McMahon spent the bulk of her career in local news. Her lack of national newsroom experience and quelling of public relations disasters was put on display after the former head of news gathering, Adrienne Roark, who left CBS News earlier this year after just seven months on the job, reprimanded one of the network’s morning anchors, Tony Dokoupil, for his questioning of an anti-Israel author, Ta-Nehisi Coates.Tony Dokoupil of ‘CBS Mornings’ interviews Ta-Nehisi Coates. CBS NewsThat reprimand led to a rare public criticism from Ms. Redstone, a staunch supporter of Israel, who later took Mr. Dokoupil out to lunch and said the executives made a mistake.Ms. McMahon has also reportedly frustrated her bosses with her revamp of the “CBS Evening News,” which was carried out by Mr. Owens and has caused ratings for the already low-rated show to plummet. In January, the network did away with the traditional single-anchor format with a new dual-anchor setup with two lesser-known hosts, Maurice Dubois and John Dickerson. However, the revamp was criticized as the show started off with more of the feel of a weekly news magazine program than an evening news show. One evening in February, it started off with a segment about student literacy titled, “Why Can’t Johnny Read?” It was widely criticized by observers who noted it was a busy news week that saw the return of an American prisoner from Russia. Additionally, Ms. McMahon reportedly angered her bosses by, in their view, mishandling negotiations with Sony for CBS to keep its distribution rights of the iconic game shows “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.”The new format of the ‘CBS Evening News’ is failing to connect with viewers. Via CBS NewsWith Ms. McMahon and Mr. Owens leaving the network, a big question hanging over the news division will likely be whether their replacements will put up resistance to Ms. Redstone and Paramount executives or go along with their wishes. Just a few weeks ago, Ms. McMahon hired from her alma mater, ABC’s station group, a new deputy, Tom Cibrowski, an experienced news veteran who made his name as a morning show and field producer. Network insiders said that Mr. Cibrowski, should he step into Ms. McMahon’s shoes temporarily, will have an uphill battle dealing with “60 Minutes,” whose producers look down on morning TV and are notoriously independent of the rest of CBS News. The interim executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Tanya Simon, the daughter of a legendary CBS News correspondent, Bob Simon, is not expected to agree to take any direction from management and certainly won’t agree to apologize.

Crisis at CBS as News Chief Resigns: Wendy McMahon Had ‘Set a Red Line’ on Apologizing to Trump for ‘60 Minutes’

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