Top producer of ’60 Minutes” quits, citing a loss of independence
CBS News entered a new period of turmoil on Tuesday after the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, said that he would resign from the long-running Sunday news program, citing encroachments on his journalistic independence.
In an extraordinary declaration, Mr. Owens — only the third person to run the program in its 57-year history — told his staff in a memo that “over the past months, it has 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.”
“So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward,” he wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The New York Times.
“60 Minutes” has faced mounting pressure in recent months from both President Trump, who sued CBS for $10 billion and has accused the program of “unlawful and illegal behavior,” and its own corporate ownership at Paramount, the parent company of CBS News.
Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, is eager to secure the Trump administration’s approval for a multibillion-dollar sale of her company to Skydance, a company run by the son of the tech billionaire Larry Ellison. She has expressed a desire to settle Mr. Trump’s case, which stems from what the president has called a deceptively edited interview in October with Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on “60 Minutes.”
Legal experts have dismissed that suit as baseless and far-fetched. A representative from Paramount declined comment. Owens’s relationship between executives at CBS and Paramount has frayed in the last few months. He has reacted angrily to what he considers a series intrusions into editorial decisions, according three people who were briefed on discussions within the company and requested anonymity for sensitive details. Redstone complained in January to CBS executives about a “60 Minutes'” segment on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. A day later, CBS appointed veteran CBS producer Susan Zirinsky to a new position overseeing the news division’s journalistic standards. This type of review is common for many news programs. However, “60 Minutes”, which prides itself on its long history of independent operation from the rest CBS’s News Division, has a unique distinction. Owens, who oversaw the editing of Harris’s interview, told his staff that he would refuse to apologize in any settlement with Mr. Trump. His statement made some Paramount executives uncomfortable given the ongoing settlement negotiations.
Mr. Multiple people who heard Mr. Owens’s remarks said that it was clear the company was done with him. Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, and Anderson Cooper were all in attendance. Anderson Cooper was in Rome, covering Pope Francis’s funeral for CNN. Rome Hartman, an experienced “60 Minutes “producer, described Mr. Owens’s departure as “a gut punch” after the meeting. “We all find it profoundly disturbing,” Mr. Hartman said in an interview. Owens began his career at CBS in 1988 as a summer internship. He was named executive producer of “60 Minutes”, in 2019. In his memo of Tuesday, he promised that the show “will continue to report on the new administration as we will do in the future.” He also said: “The program is too important for the country.” It has to continue, just not with me as the executive producer.”
Mr. Trump has frequently criticized “60 Minutes”. He cut off an interview with Lesley Stahl in 2020 after he was displeased by her questions. He refused to be interviewed for the program during the last presidential campaign. “CBS is out of control, at levels never seen before, and they should pay a big price for this,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Executives at Paramount and at Skydance took notice of the president’s angry comments, according to three people familiar with internal discussions. Settlement talks between Paramount and Mr. Trump are ongoing, and the two sides have chosen a mediator to help resolve the case.
Wendy McMahon, the president of CBS News and Stations, wrote in a separate note on Tuesday that she remained “committed to ’60 Minutes’ and to ensuring that the mission and the work remain our priority.”
She also praised Mr. Owens. She also praised Mr. Owens.
