Paramount denies Bari Weiss is being sidelined from CBS News and 60 Minutes in favor of more experienced hands

Source: The Independent

Tuesday 19 May 2026 10:00 EDT


Paramount Skydance pushed back against a report suggesting CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss could be demoted amid concerns about her lack of experience and mounting negative press coverage.

On Monday, Puck News reported that senior executives have been discussing whether Weiss should “cede day-to-day control” of the flagship program 60 Minutes, as well as CBS Mornings and the CBS Evening News, with insiders griping she is “drastically overstretched.” Should Paramount complete its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the same would apply to Weiss’s potential responsibilities regarding CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros.

The company quickly rejected that characterization. A Paramount spokesperson told The Independent: “Bari has the full support of Paramount and David Ellison as the editorial leader overseeing CBS News and 60 Minutes. Reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate.”

Weiss, who describes herself as a “radical centrist” and who founded the digital outlet The Free Press, has faced sustained scrutiny since taking the top editorial role at CBS News late last year. Detractors argue she has steered coverage in ways that blatantly favor the Trump administration and the Israeli government, while others question whether she is equipped to manage a newsroom of that scale. Weiss, 42, has said she operates independently and is implementing changes she believes are necessary to restore credibility to a legacy media company that has lost public trust.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/bari-weiss-cbs-news-60-minutes-b2979426.html