Shari Redstone wanted to know what 60 Minutes was going to say next about President Donald Trump.
The CBS newsmagazine aired two segments involving Trump on April 13 that angered the president, one on his plans to take over Greenland and another an interview with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that discussed US policy in the region. Trump immediately lashed out on social media, saying 60 Minutes should “pay a big price” for its frequent reporting on him, which he called “fraudulent.”
Following Trump’s post, Redstone, who is the chair of CBS’ parent company Paramount Global, had a conversation with CBS Chief Executive Officer George Cheeks to discuss 60 Minutes’ upcoming slate of stories about the president. Redstone indicated which ones she thought were fair and those that could be problematic, according to CBS employees Bloomberg spoke with.
60 Minutes didn’t change its plans based on her feedback, the employees said. The network aired a segment Sunday about Trump’s cuts to the National Institutes of Health. Still, Executive Producer Bill Owens announced to his staff last week that he’s leaving, citing corporate interference at the most-watched TV news program in the US.
The 37-year CBS News veteran said in a memo to staff that it had become clear he “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.”
Also on Sunday night, correspondent Scott Pelley closed out the show with an explanation for Owens’ departure. “Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” Pelley told viewers. “None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he had lost the independence that honest journalism requires. No one here is happy about it.”
Owens’ exit is the culmination of months of conflict between Redstone and CBS’ news division, during which the billionaire publicly criticized its decision-making and privately pushed for leadership changes, according to interviews with almost a dozen current and former Paramount employees, most of whom asked to not be identified discussing internal company business. Redstone, Owens and Cheeks all declined to comment. Semafor reported earlier some details about Redstone’s request to hear about upcoming stories.
For more on this story, Tim Stenovec and Emily Graffeo speak with Bloomberg News Entertainment Reporter Lucas Shaw
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.