CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon said Monday that she is resigning after four years, the latest fallout at the network as its parent company considers settling a lawsuit with President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview with his former political opponent.
McMahon, who has led both the network news division and news for the CBS-owned stations, said in an email message to staff that “it's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It's time to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.”
McMahon has made clear she opposes settling with Trump — just like “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who quit last month.
Trump has sued CBS, alleging it edited an interview with 2024 Democratic opponent Kamala Harris last fall to benefit her. CBS News has denied that. CBS' parent company, Paramount Global, is in talks to potentially settle Trump's lawsuit. At the same time, Paramount Global is seeking administration approval of a merger with Skydance Media.
George Cheeks, co-CEO of Paramount and head of the CBS network, said McMahon's top deputies, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski and CBS Stations president Jennifer Mitchell, will report directly to him.
McMahon, in her note, said that “the past few months have been challenging.”
“I have spent the last few months shoring up our businesses and making sure the right leaders are in place, and I have no doubt they will continue to set the standard,” she said.
In addition to the tussle with Trump, Paramount's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, has expressed unhappiness over some network coverage of Israel's war in Gaza, including a “60 Minutes” piece this winter. Paramount began supervising “60 Minutes” stories in new ways, including asking former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky to look over some of its stories before they aired.
That extra layer contributed to Owens' resignation. One of the show's correspondents, Scott Pelley, said on the air that “none of us is happy” about the changes.
CBS News is also trying to establish the new anchor team of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois at its flagship “CBS Evening News” broadcast amid ratings troubles.
In his note to staff members, Cheeks praised McMahon for expanding local news at CBS stations and improving their competitive positions, along with improving the network's digital offerings.
Despite the internal tensions, the “60 Minutes” broadcast has done several notably tough stories on the Trump administration, and it has drawn the ire of the president. He attacked the show after one episode in April. “Almost every week, 60 Minutes ... mentions the name ‘TRUMP’ in a derogatory and defamatory way,” the president said on social media.
On Sunday's season finale of “60 Minutes,” a story that had been scheduled and publicly announced about cutbacks at the Internal Revenue Service was not aired. A spokeswoman said it was because on Friday, CBS learned that IRS leadership had told senior staff that it had decided to call some 7,000 probationary employees back to work.
CBS said it would continue to report on the details and broadcast the story some time in the future.
A Trump settlement with Paramount has precedence. The Walt Disney Co. decided in December to pay $15 million to end a Trump libel lawsuit against ABC News over a statement made by the network's George Stephanopoulos regarding a sexual assault case against Trump.
The new administration has been battling with the media over several fronts, including:
—Engaging in a court fight with The Associated Press over curtailing access because the agency has not followed Trump's wishes to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
—Making efforts to shut down government-run news services like the Voice of America.
—Cutting funding to public broadcasting.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
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