'60 Minutes' chief resigns, saying show's independence was compromised
APRIL 22, 20253:26 PM ET
David Folkenflik
"60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens, left, shown with executive editor Tanya Simon in 2019. Owens resigned Tuesday, saying corporate leaders were no longer letting him "make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience."
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Invision
The longtime head of CBS'
60 Minutes resigned Tuesday, as the network's parent company contemplates a settlement with President Trump over his lawsuit focusing on an interview the show did with then-Vice President Kamala Harris last fall.
In an emotionally charged meeting Tuesday afternoon, and again in a note to staff released publicly shortly after, the show's executive producer, Bill Owens said he was departing after 37 years with CBS News following months of heavy-handed treatment of the show by corporate leaders.
Owens, only the third leader of the show in its more than half-century history, did not explicitly cite Trump. But the president's open rancor toward
60 Minutes looms over all. Corporate parent Paramount and its controlling owner, Shari Redstone, are seeking the approval of federal regulators to sell it to the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison. The billionaire software mogul is a friend of Trump who visited the president at the White House earlier this year.
"Over the past months, it has also 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," Owens wrote. "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."
At the meeting, according to two attendees, Owens said he had "lost independence from corporate." (The two people required anonymity to speak publicly due to the fraught professional environment at the show and the network.)
60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, a longtime collaborator and friend of Owens, told colleagues, "This isn't something Bill is doing of his own volition: There was no choice in any of this," according to one of the attendees.
Last fall, before regaining office, Trump sued CBS' parent company Paramount in his personal capacity. Trump pointed to the fact that the network aired two different versions of an answer Harris gave about Israel and Gaza – one on
Face the Nation and the other on
60 Minutes. He demanded the network release the transcript of the raw interview, which it ultimately did this year once Trump was in office and his chief broadcasting regulator sought it. Trump was later
joined by a Congressional ally in his lawsuit and doubled his demand to $20 billion.
Legal observers spanning the ideological spectrum say Trump does not have a good case. His lawsuit spuriously alleges election interference by CBS over the kind of discretionary editorial choices that routinely confront broadcast journalists, they say.
Redstone had been outspoken about the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas in October 2023. She was rankled by some CBS coverage of Gaza, including a
CBS Mornings segment last fall and a
60 Minutes story in January.
Owens has repeatedly told colleagues he would refuse to apologize to Trump. The chief executive of CBS News and Stations, Wendy McMahon, also has opposed settling.
According to an attendee of Tuesday's meeting, McMahon appeared tearful and told the people assembled that she had been supportive of everything that Owens had done.
In her own note announcing Owens' departure, CBS News chief McMahon wrote, "working with Bill has been one of the great privileges of my career. Standing behind what he stood for was an easy decision for me, and I never took for granted that he did the same for me."
She said CBS News already had begun conversations with correspondents and senior leaders about the next steps for the show. Owens' deputy Tanya Simon, a longtime
60 Minutes producer whose father was a correspondent for the show, will run the program for now; the network says it will be led permanently by someone who comes from within its ranks.
Corporate sale pending before Trump administration
Paramount's controlling owner, Shari Redstone, has billions of dollars at stake as she seeks to close a sale of the company to Skydance Media. (Skydance Media CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose billions are underwriting the deal for Paramount and CBS. Trump has
called Larry Ellison a friend.)
The deal is under formal review by the Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump's pick as chairman,
Brendan Carr. The FCC is reviewing the acquisition because it entails the transfer of Paramount's licenses to use the public airwaves for its 27 local television stations.
