Top CBS Executives Knew Scott Pelley Planned To Attack His Bosses at the End of ‘60 Minutes’ and Declined To Intervene: Report

Scott Pelley’s future at CBS News might not be in as much jeopardy as initially thought after he attacked network executives during a segment on “60 Minutes,” according to a report. In the wake of the forced resignation of the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, Mr. Pelley, a famously disgruntled news star, delivered a rare public rebuke of network executives on CBS’ airwaves, blaming corporate meddling for Mr. Owens’s exit. At the end of Sunday night’s program, Mr. Pelley, speaking from the iconic “60 Minutes” set, said to the cameras, “Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways.”“None of our stories [have] been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires,” he added. The extraordinary breach of etiquette – TV news personalities almost never criticize their corporate management on the air – raised questions about whether Mr. Pelley would face any kind of reprimand. However, according to the liberal journalist Oliver Darcy, the top executives at CBS Inc. knew in advance that Mr. Pelley planned to denounce them at the end of Sunday night’s program, and didn’t try to stop him.Mr. Darcy reported the president of CBS News and Stations, Wendy McMahon, and her boss, the CEO of CBS Inc. and co-executive of Paramount, George Cheeks, were aware that Mr. Pelley “planned to address the situation before the extraordinary segment aired.”CBS News chief Wendy McMahon (L) received a strong vote of support from her boss, CBS chief George Cheeks, after she came under criticism for her deputy’s reprimand of CBS Mornings’ co-host Tony Dokoupil, for how he challenged Ta-Nehisi Coates over his virulent anti-Israel views. Getty ImagesHe added that Ms. McMahon was “likely firmly in support” because of her “strong backing of Owens and the editorial independence of ‘60 Minutes.’”Mr. Darcy writes that Mr. Cheeks’ view is “less clear” but noted that he did not try to stop Mr. Pelley. CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. There are few parallels to Mr. Pelley’s soliloquy. Perhaps the best comparison is to MSNBC star Rachel Maddow, who recently denounced, on the air, lay-offs at the far-left news channel that, she noted, had adversely impacted TV hosts of color, including the liberal firebrand Joy Reid, who’d just been fired. Ms. Maddow, who is white and is reportedly paid $25 million a year to work one day a week, was widely criticized for a lack of self-awareness.She had previously criticized her corporate bosses in 2019, when, on her eponymous program, she called senior NBC executives “complicit” in shielding powerful men, including Harvey Weinstein, from scrutiny.George Cheeks, CEO of CBS , Shari Redstone, Chairwoman of Paramount Global and Chris McCarthy, president of Showtime and MTV. Noam Galai/Getty Images for ParamountRegarding the CBS contretemps, when Mr. Owens announced his resignation, he wrote in a memo to staff that it had “become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ‘60 Minutes,’ right for the audience.”His resignation, which has widely been perceived as a forced ouster, reportedly followed months of mounting frustration with the nonexecutive chairwoman of Paramount, Shari Redstone, and vice versa. Ms. Redstone, a staunch supporter of Israel, has reportedly expressed her frustration with “60 Minutes” and its coverage of Israel. Specifically, she was angered after a segment that aired in January focused on State Department rank-and-file opposition to the American role in the Israeli-Hamas war. The American Jewish Committee said the report was “shockingly one-sided, lacked factual accuracy, and relied heavily on misguided information.”The New York Post reports that Ms. Redstone was “livid” after the segment and pushed Ms. McMahon to fire Mr. Owens. Instead, CBS News installed a rival of Mr. Owens’s, Susan Zirinsky, in a new role overseeing editorial standards for the whole news division, including “60 Minutes,” which considers itself superior to the rest of CBS News and has long resisted any oversight. Ms. Zirinsky was supposed to head off more incidents of anti-Israel bias (there had been other issues with CBS News programming percolating since October 2024). Despite her new role, “60 Minutes” in April aired yet another anti-Israel segment, this one about the Jewish hostages. Co-host Lesley Stahl was harshly criticized for asking one recently released hostage, Keith Siegel, if the only reason his captors didn’t feed him was that they were out of food.Aside from Ms. Redstone’s frustration with the coverage of Israel, tensions have reportedly been simmering as Paramount and Skydance Media work to complete their merger, which requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Departing Executive Producer Bill Owens of ’60 Minutes’ Frederick M. Brown/Getty ImagesThe review process seems to have been in limbo with little progress as CBS Inc. is facing a lawsuit from President Trump regarding its editing of Vice President Harris’ October 2024 “60 Minutes” interview and the removal of what critics called a “word salad” answer.The interview and the way it was edited, which Mr. Trump alleges was done to help Ms. Harris’ campaign and says could have cost him the election, also led to a complaint alleging “news distortion” and an FCC investigation, which is ongoing. The chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, has said that the news distortion complaint could factor into the review. Industry observers believe the Skydance merger will not go through until CBS and Mr. Trump resolve their differences.There have been divisions at Paramount and CBS about how to handle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit in light of the FCC’s review process. Ms. McMahon has argued against settling the lawsuit, according to multiple reports. However, Ms. Redstone and executives at Skydance have pushed to settle the suit – mediation is scheduled to begin this week, according to the Wall Street Journal, while other reports say talks are already underway – in the belief that it will pave the way for the FCC to approve the merger. Still, some executives at Paramount are concerned that settling Mr. Trump’s lawsuit could expose them to potential criminal charges as it could be seen as a bribe, the Journal reports.Leslie Stahl is under fire for asking a ‘ridiculous’ question of freed American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel. CBS NewsOne way to avoid the appearance of a bribe is for CBS to apologize for the way it edited the Harris interview.Mr. Darcy previously reported that Ms. McMahon and Mr. Owens said an apology is a “red line” they will not cross. CBS News also leaked to the New York Times that Mr. Owens had told his staff they did nothing wrong in their handling of the Harris interview and that he would never apologize. This stance, along with “60 Minutes” holding to its resolutely anti-Israel stance, likely paved the way to his ouster.Mr. Owens’ departure is fueling talk about who else might leave the network or be forced out. Ms. Stahl, 82, is one figure who insiders reportedly think might be pushed into retirement. The Post reports that there have “been whispers” that Ms. Stahl – who told Variety she was “devastated” by Mr. Owens’ departure and is increasingly embattled after her Gaza hostage interview – might retire. The turmoil over the potential settlement of Mr. Trump’s lawsuit is also believed to be an issue that could lead to Ms. McMahon’s departure. The veteran media reporter Matthew Belloni predicted in his podcast “The Town” that Paramount would settle the lawsuit, and the Skydance merger would then be approved. He suggested that the terms of the settlement deal might include an apology for the Harris interview, which he said would drive CBS News executives “crazy” and might lead Ms. McMahon to resign.Whether she resigns or not, her time may be short-lived after her resistance to the settlement and failure to prevent multiple controversies from spiraling into public relations nightmares. Mr. Belloni’s colleague at Puck News, Dylan Byers, reports that executives at Skydance are planning to fire Ms. McMahon once the acquisition of Paramount is complete. Leslie Stahl is under fire for her recent segment on Jewish hostages in Gaza. CBS Ms. McMahon, Mr. Byers notes, recently botched a dispute with Sony over distribution rights to “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy,” potentially losing CBS hundreds of millions of dollars. She also has on her hands a disastrous rebranding of the storied “CBS Evening News,” which she’d placed in the hands of Mr. Owens. Ratings for the already low-rated newscast have plunged sharply to new lows after Mr. Owens attempted to make the program more like a news magazine.

Top CBS Executives Knew Scott Pelley Planned To Attack His Bosses at the End of ‘60 Minutes’ and Declined To Intervene: Report

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