The turmoil at CBS Information over the controversial “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris has put the present’s boss on the new seat – and insiders are speculating the community may dump him if President Trump desires a “head on a spike,” The Publish has realized.
Invoice Owens – govt producer of “60 Minutes” since a sexual-misconduct scandal engulfed CBS and ousted his predecessor, Jeff Fager – has remained defiant amid fury from the rank-and-file over a attainable settlement with Trump over his $10 billion lawsuit.
The president claims CBS edited the Harris interview to make her look higher forward of the election – an accusation the community has denied.
On Monday, 58-year-old Owens informed staffers that the edit was “completely tremendous” and that “the corporate is aware of I can’t apologize for something we now have executed,” The New York Instances reported Tuesday.
However, CBS confirmed it reluctantly despatched the total interview transcript on Monday to FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who has vowed to fast-track an investigation into any wrongdoing, as The Publish reported.
On Monday, Carr informed The Publish he’ll vet the transcript in gentle of an FCC “prohibition towards information distortion on our books for 50 years” that applies to TV broadcasters. Some CBS insiders concern the outlook for the probe isn’t good.
“It may not matter what the transcripts present,” a CBS supply informed The Publish. “Trump would possibly desire a head to roll.”
If Owens will get the boot, community sources are chattering that one of many individuals who may change him is Susan Zirinsky, the legendary producer who impressed Holly Hunter’s character within the traditional film “Broadcast Information.”
Final month, the 72-year-old Zirinsky, was named interim govt editor of CBS Information to assist the Tiffany Community “rapidly and successfully ship balanced, correct, honest and well timed reporting, together with extremely complicated, delicate points just like the warfare within the Center East,” CBS CEO George Cheeks mentioned in a memo.
On the time, Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone praised Zirinsky’s appointment, saying the community is “lucky” that she “stepped in.”
That was after “60 Minutes” drew barbs over a section on the Gaza warfare – main Redstone to voice considerations concerning the present’s path, a number of sources mentioned.
A “furious” Redstone, whose household stands to pocket about $1.75 billion if the $8 billion merger with Skydance Media goes by way of, allegedly pressed CBS Information president Wendy McMahon to fireside Owens for airing the one-sided report, one other supply with information of the state of affairs mentioned.
Redstone and CBS declined to remark.
The section additionally drew scorn from the ADL and the American Jewish Committee for being “biased” and “villainizing Israel” and the US’ assist of the nation.
The backlash towards “60 Minutes” comes at a fragile time for Paramount because it tries to sidestep regulatory hurdles from Trump’s appointed FCC chair to finish the long-winding Skydance deal.
Owens, who like his predecessors has run “60 Minutes” as an impartial fiefdom other than CBS information, isn’t glad about having his work vetted by Zirinsky, sources mentioned.
Zirinsky and Owens declined to remark.
The pair had been locked in a bake-off for the “60 Minutes” gig in 2019. Some “60 Minutes” staffers, together with host Scott Pelley, had been apoplectic over the concept Zirinsky — then boss of crime-focused information present “48 Hours” — may get the job over Owens, as The Publish beforehand reported.
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Owens did get the function after Zirinsky was promoted to CBS Information president – a place whose bureaucratic duties she reportedly didn’t relish. She stepped down in 2021 to run See It Now Studios, a CBS documentary unit.
Owens, within the meantime, has racked up criticism on his watch over this system’s allegedly leftward skid.
Along with the Harris interview, through which CBS was accused of modifying down her prolonged, “phrase salad” responses to powerful questions, “60 Minutes” has taken warmth for giving former President Joe Biden related, soft-glove therapy throughout a fawning 2023 interview by Pelley.
“Invoice Owens has so many strikes towards him,” one other CBS insider informed The Publish, including that Zirinsky could lastly get her likelihood to run the celebrated program “if Trump desires a head on a spike.”
Different bones of rivalry embody Leslie Stahl’s 2020 sit-down with Trump through which she claimed the Hunter Biden Laptop computer story couldn’t be verified.