A former ABC News journalist is suing former colleague CBS News Chief Correspondent Matt Gutman over inappropriate remarks he allegedly made when they worked together several years ago.
Samira Said, a field producer for ABC News for four years, included the claims related to Gutman in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against her former employer and its parent The Walt Disney Co. Gutman, who joined CBS News in January, is named as a defendant as well.
The suit cited two incidents where Said claims Gutman created a hostile work environment by making inappropriate sexual comments while on the job. While waiting on a public line with Said during an assignment, Gutman allegedly “initiated a discussion rating a female correspondent’s appearance and reducing her professional standing to a numerical score based on her physical attributes.”
Said claims the other male crew members on the assignment joined in and tried to draw her into the conversation by soliciting her views. Said declined and stated the conversation was inappropriate.
The suit cited another exchange when the two covered a press event for a movie release. Said claims she and Gutman disagreed about whether they should leave the work site. “In front of multiple coworkers, Gutman responded by making a sexualized insinuation that Said must have an after-hours date in the city,” the suit said.
The suit also said the remarks made in front of co-workers were demeaning and “reduced [Said’s] professional judgment to a sexualized stereotype.”
Gutman, 48, was the first high-profile talent hire by CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, who took charge of the division in October 2025. He recently filled in as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” and scored higher ratings than the program’s regular anchor Tony Dokoupil.
Gutman spent 17 years at ABC News where he mostly reported from Los Angeles.
The suit also claims Said was wrongfully terminated from ABC News in 2025 after dealing with mental health issues. The suit accuses the company of violating California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act by not making accommodations for her.
A Disney representative declined comment as executives have yet to see Said’s complaint. CBS News and Gutman also declined comment, having not seen the suit.
Said was assigned to cover the 2022 shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where she was required to interview child survivors who had witnessed the killing of their classmates. Afterward, she told her supervisor she needed a short leave to attend to her health but was denied.
A psychiatrist eventually approved a medical leave. The suit alleges that shortly after it began Said continued to get assignment requests from David Herndon, then head of ABC’s Los Angeles bureau.
Said was assigned to cover the Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025. She was sent home three weeks in after a supervisor observed her deteriorating physical condition, according to the suit.
Said injured her foot later that year while covering a weather-related story in the area. She reported the injury to supervisors but was denied a request for medical leave after being evaluated by a company doctor.
Said is seeking compensatory and punitive damages along with her attorneys’ fees.
There is no timetable for NFL analyst Tony Romo’s return to CBS Sports, the division’s president David Berson said Tuesday.
Romo was placed on leave by CBS after he was arrested in Milwaukee on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated on July 23. JJ Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, will work alongside Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson as CBS’ lead broadcast team during Romo’s absence.
No decision has been made on Romo’s long-term future at the network, Berson told journalists at the network’s annual press briefing on the NFL season at parent company Paramount’s New York headquarters.
Berson called Romo’s legal matters “an evolving situation.” He added that naming Watt, who joined CBS as an NFL analyst in 2023, as an interim replacement was necessary as the first kickoff is a month away.
“Since it continues to evolve, and we’re on the eve of the season,” Berson said “I felt it’s very important that our team, the many, many hundreds of people work on the NFL and CBS, have certainty and direction, so we can definitively plan and focus on the production and marketing as we kick off the season.”
Romo has a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 21, He was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and received citations for having an open container in a moving vehicle and unsafe passing.
Romo joined CBS as an NFL analyst in 2017. He had a 14-year career as a quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys. He led the team to six playoff appearances and was named to the NFL Pro Bowl team four times.
In the latest lawsuit against Paramount Skydance, a corporate shareholder has alleged corruption at the highest levels of the company, which is battling to complete its $111-billion takeover of rival Warner Bros. Discovery to create a new media behemoth.
Controlling shareholders Larry Ellison and his son David have presided over a firm that allegedly made “illegal promises and payments to secure regulatory approval,” for the Ellison family’s Paramount purchase last summer, according to the shareholder lawsuit filed this week in Delaware court.
Larry Ellison allegedly discussed with President Trump how Paramount’s pending Warner Bros. acquisition would result in a shake-up at CNN, states the lawsuit filed by Paramount shareholder Paul Robbins.
“The Ellisons [won] the bidding war for Warner Bros. by promising sweeping changes at CNN and other personal benefits to President Trump,” according to the 59-page complaint.
The case was brought on Robbins’ behalf by the nonprofit Public Integrity Project and the advocacy group Freedom of Press Foundation, which has been critical of the Trump’s administration policies toward the media.
The complaint noted that Netflix withdrew from the bidding in February — the same day Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos met at the White House with then-Atty. General Pam Bondi and another top official.
The lawsuit suggests Netflix dropped out after recognizing the challenges of dealing with the Trump Administration and that Trump always wanted to see the prize go to Paramount because of his close ties to the Ellison family, who have ushered in more favorable news coverage of Trump and the departure of late night comedian Stephen Colbert.
Robbins does not appear to have first-hand accounts supporting his claims, which are based on public documents and media reports about dealings between the Ellisons and Trump. He has owned Paramount stock since 2021, but the lawsuit does not say how many shares he owns.
He could not be reached for comment.
A Paramount spokesperson could not be immediately reached.
Previously, a Paramount spokesperson said: “No commitments from either David or Larry Ellison have been made to any government body, State AG or federal agency regarding the future of CNN or any other news property, other than the goal to deliver truth-based journalism.”
It’s the third lawsuit lobbed at Paramount this week. On Monday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta led a coalition of 12 Democrat state attorneys general filed a federal antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the Paramount-Warner merger due to concerns about consolidation in movie distribution and cable channels.
Many in Hollywood are opposed to the deal due to fears that another studio consolidation would bring more layoffs, programming cutbacks and a fragile business environment due to the heavy debt burden — nearly $80 billion — that Paramount would have to take on to buy Warner Bros.
The shareholder lawsuit noted that Paramount participated in a raucous event with UFC fighters on the White House lawn in June to celebrate Trump’s 80th birthday and the nation’s 250th anniversary. Paramount has UFC broadcast rights.
The event came two days after Trump’s Justice Department wrapped its regulatory review of Paramount’s Warner Bros. proposal, giving the merger a key green light.
Justice Department investigators reportedly did not have a chance to express potential antitrust concerns when high-level Justice Department officials closed the inquiry — a major win for Paramount and the Ellisons, the lawsuit states.
“There have been some line attorneys in the DOJ that have reviewed this [merger] and have some concerns,” New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James said Tuesday during a virtual town hall with opponents of the merger. “Their analysis of this particular case was ignored by the front office, if you will, at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. [the White House] That’s the front office.”
Ellison’s Skydance Media emerged with its deal to buy Paramount two years ago. Previous controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, was desperate for an exit and Trump was mounting his White House comeback by battling then-President Joe Biden, then Kamala Harris.
Trump declined an invitation to appear on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” then under Redstone control. He became infuriated by an October 2024 interview with Harris on “60 Minutes.”
Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS (he later upped it to $20 billion). After Trump won the election, he had considerable sway over Paramount because it needed his administration’s approval for the sale to the Ellisons.
Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to end his “60 Minutes” lawsuit, allowing the sale to go forward. The Ellisons acquired Paramount in August, then set their sights on Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN.
“The Ellisons proceeded to remake CBS in the President’s image, bought properties he enjoyed, and even hosted events to honor him,” the lawsuit said. “This helped the Ellisons, but it appears to have hurt Paramount and its media outlets.”
In late April, David Ellison hosted an elaborate dinner in Washington to honor the “Trump White House,” according to invitations to the event, “even though President Trump continually insulted journalists at CBS and elsewhere,” the lawsuit said.
On Wednesday, during a confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) blasted acting Atty. General Todd Blanche for his attendance at the dinner while his agency was reviewing the Paramount deal.
Also on Wednesday, the nonprofit news site ProPublica reported Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has accepted $63,000 in free tickets from CBS in recent years — while Paramount mergers were pending.
Times Staff Writer Ben Wieder contributed to this report.
Veteran broadcast journalist Katie Couric has leveled sharp criticism at CBS’ “60 Minutes,” detailing a culture of systemic sexism and marginalization she says she experienced during her tenure at the prestigious newsmagazine.
On this week’s episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Couric, 69, described incidents during her time at “60 Minutes” when her story ideas were reassigned to her male counterparts. She described the circumstances as “really tough situations.”
The Emmy-winning journalist said she suspected early on that Jeff Fager, the “60 Minutes” executive producer at the time, didn’t take a liking to her.
“I think maybe because he wasn’t really consulted about bringing me over,” said Couric. “I was sort of seen as somebody from a different network coming in and sort of muddying the waters. I hadn’t come up in the CBS system. So I don’t know, he just didn’t like me.”
Couric started her run at the newsmagazine as a correspondent and as an anchor at CBS News in 2006, after spending 15 years co-hosting NBC’s “Today” show. Her role at CBS made her the first female solo anchor of a national weeknight news broadcast. She stayed with the network for five years before taking on a new role as special correspondent for ABC News.
Fager remained at “60 Minutes” from 2004 to 2018. He also served as the chairman of CBS News. He was eventually fired for allegedly sending a “harsh” message to a CBS reporter. At the time, he was also facing accusations of ignoring inappropriate behavior at “60 Minutes.” He previously denied the claims. CBS could not be reached for comment.
Trouble first came to a head when Couric pitched a profile of the rising pop star Lady Gaga. Fager had initially turned down the idea until he decided to pursue the story a year later, as Gaga had gained more notoriety.
Couric said she had proposed a fresh angle on Gaga’s Catholic school upbringing, but when she arrived for the interview, she discovered her name had been replaced with Anderson Cooper’s. His interview with Gaga aired in February 2011.
“It made me crazy,” Couric said.
A similar situation occurred once again when Couric was set to interview then–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The confusion began when the State Department reached out to Couric, wondering why fellow correspondent Scott Pelley’s team was inquiring about Clinton.
“So I go to Jeff Fager, and I say, ‘I thought you wanted me to do Hillary. You told me explicitly that you wanted to assign that story to me,’” Couric said. “And he said, ‘Yeah, we decided to change things up.’”
Couric said she was frustrated with Fager, for repeatedly going “behind [her] back.”
“Like, without even the decency to call me and say, ‘Guess what? We decided to reassign the story, and this is why,’” she said. “Talk about getting gaslit. I mean to me, that is the definition of it.”
Couric isn’t the only former “60 Minutes” to call out sexism at the newsmagazine. Meredith Vieira, who worked as a correspondent in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said in 2018, that she’d experienced sexism at CBS.
In the last few months, “60 Minutes” has undergone a massive upheaval. Under CBS News editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, several correspondents, including Scott Pelley, and the program’s top producers were fired. Anderson Cooper also recently resigned from his post at the newsmagazine. With the upcoming season slated to begin in September, the program is currently under pressure to replenish its ranks.
When CBS announced that it planned to outsource the hallowed “Late Show” slot occupied by Stephen Colbert and David Letterman before him to “Comics Unleashed,” the syndicated, low-budget talk show with stand-ups riffing on their routines, many saw politics at play.
But the show’s host and producer, comic-turned-mogul Byron Allen, saw the math. Once a cultural touchstone, late-night television has seen its prominence erode greatly over the years with viewers and advertising dollars shifting away from broadcast TV to streaming.
“I said, ‘Look guys, you’re spending a small fortune on late night,’” recalled Allen, who estimated that the programming was costing the network more than $200 million. He offered it a solution.
His company, the Los Angeles-based Allen Media Group, would pay $15 million for the airtime to run “Comics Unleashed,” which previously aired after “The Late Show,” while keeping most of the advertising time on the program to sell. It was the same time-buy model that propelled his fledgling media empire and made him wealthy many times over.
“Comics Unleashed” drew 1.1 million viewers in its debut in the new time slot last month, down substantially from the 2.7 million Colbert’s show averaged in its final season. Critics chimed in, with one outlet even calling it a “ratings disaster.”
But Allen, typically, was not fazed, saying his show bested the competition in key markets and was more comparable with the same time period last May before Colbert’s post-cancellation victory lap.
“CBS has won big-time because they have zero production costs and now they are saving $55 million a year,” he said in an interview.
Media mogul Byron Allen at his studio on the set of “Comics Unleashed” in Culver City.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
A relentlessly driven, shrewd dealmaker and entrepreneur, Allen is used to defying skeptics and seeing opportunity in assets overlooked by others. He was one of the first entertainers to recognize that there was more money to be made in owning your content, rather than just performing it.
Over the last three decades, he has built a multibillion-dollar business, Allen Media Group, which now has 2,000 employees across various media properties.
In addition to creating a trove of accessible, family-friendly programs, he’s taken a number of big, bold swings, buying up distressed assets that now span broadcast, cable, streaming and film distribution.
At times, he appears like a minnow trying to swallow a whale. Although many deals have landed, others, such as his bids for ABC, BET, Paramount Global and Tegna, have not.
“He’s had misses, but that doesn’t stop him from going to bat,” said Lloyd Greif, president and chief executive of Greif & Co., a Los Angeles-based investment bank.
After a major restructuring that began two years ago during which the company laid off staffers and sold off properties, Allen is back with a slew of ambitious acquisitions. In addition to owning CBS’ late-night block, he also took over the 12:35 a.m. slot with his comic game show, “Funny You Should Ask.” He declined to reveal how much he paid for that airtime.
Allen recently snapped up controlling interest in the digital media company BuzzFeed (including HuffPost) for $120 million and bought a 10.7% stake in cable channel Starz for $25 million.
Although Allen’s programming has been dismissed as low-budget, apolitical comedy, and his finances have been questioned by some, he remains undaunted by doubters.
“I like to say I’m a 65-year-old overnight success.” And he remains focused on his mission, even proclaiming he is “building the world’s biggest media company.”
An entrepreneurial streak
Allen was born in Detroit, where his grandparents owned a roller rink where he worked as a floor guard. Being surrounded by a family of factory workers and the legacy of 20th century American industry set the stage for his entrepreneurship. “I didn’t play sports; I played office,” he said.
At age 7, after his parents’ divorce, Allen moved to Los Angeles with his mother, Carolyn Folks. It was the summer of 1968 and they planned a two-week vacation. But Detroit was in flames following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and they stayed.
Folks put herself through UCLA and eventually worked her way up at NBC from an intern to a publicist, a move Allen credits with changing the trajectory of their lives. His mother couldn’t afford child care, so Allen often accompanied her at the studio, where he soaked up tapings of “Sanford and Son” and “The Tonight Show.” After Johnny Carson finished filming and the studio was empty, Allen would sit at his desk, mimicking the legendary late-night host.
At 14, he convinced his mother to let him do stand-up at the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard.
“There were literally four people and 200 chairs. And I said, ‘I have to figure out how to make these chairs laugh.’”
A writer for Jimmie “J.J.” Walker, who was starring on the groundbreaking Norman Lear hit comedy “Good Times,” caught his act. He hired Allen to write jokes for Walker along with a pair of yet-to-be discovered comics: Jay Leno and David Letterman. Allen earned $25 a joke.
Howie Mandel met Byron Allen when they were both starting out at The Comedy Store.
(Allen Media Group)
“Most people in my business wait for other people to give you an opportunity,” said Howie Mandel, the actor and comic who met Allen when they were starting out at the Comedy Store during this period. “Byron and his mom constantly made their own opportunities.”
In 1979, when Allen was 18, he became the youngest comic to appear on “The Tonight Show.” Like a shot out of a cannon, the performance catapulted his career.
While various offers poured in, Allen chose the NBC prime-time series “Real People” as a host and correspondent. It was an embryonic version of reality TV. Allen traveled around the country showcasing quirky, heartwarming stories. The hit show brought Allen to every pocket of America. It also made him a star, delivering him to the country’s living rooms each week.
He continued to tour, doing stand-up and serving as the opening act for such musicians as Lionel Richie and Dolly Parton, and starred in TV movies.
Allen became a hero to young, Black entertainers who were just starting out. Among them was Eddie Murphy, who has called Allen “one of my first inspirations.”
“He just loves comedians,” said Whitney Cummings, co-creator and executive producer of the hit CBS sitcom “2 Broke Girls.” She recalled crucial career and financial advice Allen gave her after she first appeared as a young comic on “Comics Unleashed.” “It gave me like a true north. It changed my life.”
Whitney Cummings says Allen helped her early in her career.
(Troy Conrad)
As Allen’s success swelled, he said, he realized the industry was what he calls “business show, not show business.”
“You need to know the business side and learn the business side and then you can do as many shows as you want. And I knew that I didn’t want to work for anybody,” he said.
While on “Real People,” he sat in on sales meetings and went to the National Assn. of Television Programming Executives, where he introduced himself to Al Masini, the syndication trailblazer who produced “Entertainment Tonight” and “Star Search.”
“I understand you’re the best. I’m here to learn from you,” Allen said.
In 1989 he began hosting the syndicated “The Byron Allen Show.” Two years later, he created BYCA Television Distribution to take over his talk show’s distribution and syndicate other shows.
But Allen and his new company were soon facing legal and financial issues. A group of former employees and an investor sued, claiming they had not been paid. The dispute forced the company into Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Allen pressed on. He had absorbed another key lesson.
Learning from Richard Pryor
When he was still hanging out at the Comedy Store, he watched Richard Pryor trying out new material.
Iconic comedian Richard Pryor.
(Bettmann / Bettmann Archive)
“He would bomb night after night for almost three months,” Allen said. “I’ll never forget, he told me, ‘Byron, you’re only as good as you dare to be bad.’ I learned, OK, take risks. It’s about growing and taking chances.”
In 1993, Allen launched CF Entertainment on his dining room table in Los Angeles. The production company, later Entertainment Studios, became the foundation of his media empire. He focused on producing low-cost, syndicated programming, including interview series and court shows. Allen produced and often served as host.
His first show, “Entertainers With Byron Allen,” packaged the five-minute celebrity interviews during hotel press junkets, a conveyor belt of actors promoting their latest projects set up by the studios into an hourlong talk show.
Allen bartered the show for free to TV stations in exchange for a split of the revenues from selling commercials to advertisers. Success was not immediate. He said he received countless rejections at first.
“My house went in and out of foreclosure probably 14 times,” he said. At one point, he said, his telephone service was turned off, forcing him use a pay phone for calls.
But the format established the template for what became Allen’s highly successful business. Forbes has estimated his net worth in the billions. Allen declined to discuss his personal or business finances.
The mogul now owns multiple homes, including a $91.3-million mansion in Aspen, Colo., that was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal.
“A lot of people didn’t take him seriously and saw him as a comedian,” said Joan Robbins, Allen’s first employee, who has stayed on for 32 years as president of talent relations. “I don’t think anybody realized the extraordinary business sense he had.”
Byron Allen gets final touches at his studio on the set of “Comics Unleashed.”
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
As Allen’s media ambitions have expanded beyond comedy and syndicated talk shows, so has his company. It produces, distributes and sells advertising for 74 television programs (“Mathis Court With Judge Mathis” and “Career Day” among them) as well as owns 13 broadcast stations affiliated with the major networks in 11 markets and several dot-TV cable and digital networks including Cars.TV, Automotive.TV and Comedy.TV.
In 2016, he acquired the Black entertainment platform TheGrio and later purchased the assets of the Black News Channel out of bankruptcy for a reported $11 million, merging its TV assets and carriage deals into TheGrio’s network.
A year earlier, Allen made waves by filing the first of several multibillion-dollar racial discrimination lawsuits to tackle what he called the “trade deficit between Black America and white corporate America.” His case against Comcast for not carrying Allen-owned stations and networks reached the Supreme Court before being settled.
“I feel good about starting that conversation … because we were going in circles and we were definitely suffering from economic genocide,” he said.
In 2018, Allen’s company bought the Weather Channel and the streaming service Local Now for $300 million. His firm also announced it had raised $500 million in credit facilities organized by Deutsche Bank Securities, Jefferies Financial Group, Brightwood Capital Advisors and Comerica Bank to finance production and other acquisitions.
What unites these disparate assets? “We’re directed at where the viewers are,” he said. “That’s where we’ll be.”
But in his tireless push to expand his sprawling company, Allen has made several failed bids for high-profile assets.
In 2023, he offered Disney a reported $10 billion for ABC and some of its cable networks, and the following year bid $30 billion for Paramount Global. He also made plays for Tegna and BET.
None of his offers succeeded, prompting skepticism about his ability to finance such deals. Allen Media Group is wholly owned by the entrepreneur.
Allen dismissed such concerns. “I raised the money to buy the Weather Channel in one day,” he said. “There’s trillions of dollars looking for really good executives and really good deals. I have no problem raising capital.”
The Times viewed multiple letters from private equity firms and banks. Several indicated that Allen had financial backing on the deal to buy BET, and another showed he had $4 billion in funds to back the purchase of Paramount assets.
Over the years, former employees have criticized some of Allen’s employment practices. In 2012 he faced a class-action suit from performers and staffers on “Comics Unleashed” who alleged they were not paid residuals or reimbursed for travel and other expenses. The suit was settled in 2023.
Allen called the suits “frivolous,” saying, “I couldn’t be in business if I actually conducted myself that way.”
Last year, Allen came under fire after announcing sweeping cuts at about two dozen local affiliates that included laying off meteorologists, part of a reorganization to centralize forecasts at the Weather Channel in Atlanta. The move sparked viewer outrage and the plans were reversed.
The controversy came as Allen’s company was retrenching. He sold off about a third of the TV station portfolio for $171 million.
Allen said this was a case of “rightsizing,” paying down debt and investing more in digital. “I sold 10 of my ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates to Gray [Media] at a great price for us and a great price for them.”
Allen confirmed he is negotiating with lenders over substantial debt payments coming due in the next year, but said he is “highly confident they will get refinanced or extended.”
Shortly after he bought a stake in Starz, Allen announced his intentions to own the cable channel. Starz responded by adopting a poison pill.
“Good luck,” he said. “I still plan to take over Starz, and I will eventually get control of Starz.”
The 79th Tony Awards return to Radio City Music Hall on Sunday to celebrate the best of Broadway. Pop-star Pink hosts the show for the first time, and while she hasn’t been on Broadway yet herself, her songs have been featured in the musicals “Moulin Rouge!” and “& Juliet.”
The broadcast airs air live beginning at 5 p.m. on CBS and Paramount+, but don’t sleep on the annual pre-show, “The Tony Awards: Act One,” where the first round of Tonys will be presented. It will stream live on free service Pluto TV starting at 3:35 p.m. and be hosted by Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti and actor Tituss Burgess.
Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” Gina Gionfriddo, “Becky Shaw” Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe, “Every Brilliant Thing” “Fallen Angels” Robert Icke, “Oedipus”
Performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical
Sara Chase, “Schmigadoon!” Stephanie Hsu, “The Rocky Horror Show” Caissie Levy, “Ragtime” Marla Mindelle, “Titaníque” Christiani Pitts, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”
Performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical
Nicholas Christopher, “Chess” Luke Evans, “The Rocky Horror Show” Joshua Henry, “Ragtime” Sam Tutty, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” Brandon Uranowitz, “Ragtime”
Performance by an actress in a leading role in a play
Performance by an actor in a leading role in a play
Will Harrison, “Punch” Nathan Lane, “Death of a Salesman” John Lithgow, “Giant” Daniel Radcliffe, “Every Brilliant Thing” Mark Strong, “Oedipus”
Book of a musical
David Hornsby and Chris Hoch, “The Lost Boys” Cinco Paul, “Schmigadoon!” Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue, “Titaníque” Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”
Original score
Music: Caroline Shaw, “Death of a Salesman” Music: Steve Bargonetti, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Music and lyrics: The Rescues, “The Lost Boys” Music and lyrics: Cinco Paul, “Schmigadoon!” Music and lyrics: Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”
Performance by an actor in a featured role in a play
Christopher Abbott, “Death of a Salesman” Danny Burstein, “Marjorie Prime” Brandon J. Dirden, “Waiting for Godot” Alden Ehrenreich, “Becky Shaw” Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Richard Thomas, “The Balusters”
Performance by an actress in a featured role in a play
Betsy Aidem, “Liberation” Marylouise Burke, “The Balusters” Aya Cash, “Giant” Laurie Metcalf, “Death of a Salesman” June Squibb, “Marjorie Prime”
Performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical
Ali Louis Bourzgui, “The Lost Boys” André De Shields, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Bryce Pinkham, “Chess” Ben Levi Ross, “Ragtime” Layton Williams, “Titaníque”
Performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical
Shoshana Bean, “The Lost Boys” Hannah Cruz, “Chess” Rachel Dratch, “The Rocky Horror Show” Ana Gasteyer, “Schmigadoon!” Nichelle Lewis, “Ragtime”
Scenic design of a play
Hildegard Bechtler, “Oedipus” Takeshi Kata, “Bug” David Korins, “Dog Day Afternoon” Chloe Lamford, “Death of a Salesman” David Rockwell, “Fallen Angels”
Scenic design of a musical
dots, “The Rocky Horror Show” Soutra Gilmour, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” Rachel Hauck, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Dane Laffrey, “The Lost Boys” Scott Pask, “Schmigadoon!”
Costume design of a play
Brenda Abbandandolo, “Dog Day Afternoon” Qween Jean, “Liberation” Jeff Mahshie, “Fallen Angels” Emilio Sosa, “The Balusters” Paul Tazewell, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”
Costume design of a musical
Linda Cho, “Ragtime” Linda Cho, “Schmigadoon!” Qween Jean, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Ryan Park, “The Lost Boys” David I. Reynoso, “The Rocky Horror Show”
Lighting design of a play
Isabella Byrd, “Dog Day Afternoon” Natasha Chivers, “Oedipus” Stacey Derosier, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Heather Gilbert, “Bug” Heather Gilbert, “The Fear of 13” Jack Knowles, “Death of a Salesman”
Lighting design of a musical
Kevin Adams, “Chess” Jane Cox, “The Rocky Horror Show” Donald Holder, “Schmigadoon!” Adam Honoré, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Adam Honoré and Donald Holder with 59 Studio, “Ragtime” Jen Schriever and Michael Arden, “The Lost Boys”
Sound design of a play
Justin Ellington, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Tom Gibbons, “Oedipus” Lee Kinney, “The Fear of 13” Josh Schmidt, “Bug” Mikaal Sulaiman, “Death of a Salesman”
Sound design of a musical
Kai Harada, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Kai Harada, “Ragtime” Adam Fisher, “The Lost Boys” Brian Ronan, “The Rocky Horror Show” Walter Trarbach, “Schmigadoon!”
Direction of a play
Nicholas Hytner, “Giant” Robert Icke, “Oedipus” Kenny Leon, “The Balusters” Joe Mantello, “Death of A Salesman” Whitney White, “Liberation”
Direction of a musical
Michael Arden, “The Lost Boys” Lear deBessonet, “Ragtime” Christopher Gattelli, “Schmigadoon!” Tim Jackson, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”
Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, “Schmigadoon!” Ellenore Scott, “Ragtime” Ani Taj, “The Rocky Horror Show” Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, “The Lost Boys”
Orchestrations
Doug Besterman and Mike Morris, “Schmigadoon!” Ethan Popp, Kyler England, Adrianne “AG” Gonzalez and Gabriel Mann, “The Lost Boys” Lux Pyramid, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” Brian Usifer, “Chess” Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Wilson, Trevor Holder and Doug Schadt, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”
Under the news network’s editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, on-air correspondents Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega, Sharyn Alfonsi and the program’s executive producer, Tanya Simon, have all been ousted from the legacy newsmagazine. The two unions, which represent journalists, said the recent actions appear to compromise editorial independence.
WGA East president Tom Fontana wrote in a letter to members on Thursday that the changes at CBS News “are more than mere ideological interference with the news. They display a profound contempt for the journalism profession.”
He added, “it is clear that CBS brass is engaged in a near-constant level of editorial interference that would have previously been unthinkable.”
Tom Fontana joined WGA and SAG-AFTRA members on the picket line in the strike over contract negotiation at Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery offices on Aug. 15, 2023, in in New York City.
(Lev Radin / VIEWpress via Getty Images)
SAG-AFTRA similarly said in a statement Thursday that these “decisions can only be seen as part of a broader strategy to gut the crucial independent journalism that is so important to our democratic system.”
A spokesperson for CBS News said in a statement, “There is no political interference at CBS News, not from ownership, not from Bari Weiss. The only ‘interference’ is the normal back and forth between editor and correspondent that happens in every newsroom.”
Pelley, one of the program’s most high-profile correspondents, was fired on Tuesday after speaking out during a team meeting. He reportedly said Weiss “is murdering ‘60 Minutes.’ … She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.” He also questioned the newly hired executive producer, Nick Bilton, and his ability to run the show, citing his lack of TV news experience.
Pelley accused CBS News management of favoring the Trump administration by instructing him to put “falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.”
“I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified,” he said in a statement. “To date, in every case, I have ignored these instructions or refuse them.”
“60 Minutes” is now down four correspondents, following Anderson Cooper’s departure and the firings of Vega and Alfonsi. These are only the most recent controversial moves from Weiss, who’s set on remaking the institution long defined by tradition. She arrived at CBS News in October with no television experience, installed by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison after he acquired her digital news outlet, the Free Press, with a mandate to change the network.
“I’m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect,” Weiss said of Pelley’s firing during a meeting on Wednesday morning. “That foundation was broken on Monday, and despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways.”
The lack of reporters means “60 Minutes” will have to line up new talent quickly to fill the correspondent roles, as production of the 2026-27 season is already underway.
WGA’s Fontana added, “To our friends and colleagues at CBS News: We see you, and you are not alone. Thousands of your union brothers, sisters, and siblings have your backs.”
SAG-AFTRA also said the union is prepared to take “legal actions related to the company’s conduct over the last several weeks.”
Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.
June 3 (UPI) — CBS News fired veteran journalist Scott Pelley from 60 Minutes after an argument with its new executive producer two days before.
Pelley, 68, is a former anchor of the CBS Evening News and joined the network in 1989. Pelley is a familiar face on Sunday evenings as a correspondent for 60 Minutes.
On Monday, Pelley took issue with the recent firing of two correspondents and the show’s leadership team. He told his new producer Nick Bilton, a tech journalist hired last week, that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss was “murdering 60 Minutes.”
“She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that,” The Hill reported Pelley told Bilton.
In a memo to staff Tuesday evening, Bilton said, “We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” The New York Times reported. The network chose not to comment.
Bilton wrote a formal letter to Pelley explaining his termination, which was shared with The Times. He told Pelley he was “terminated for cause effective immediately.”
“I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” Pelley told The Times in an interview. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.”
He said he still cares deeply about the show.
The program is CBS News’ most successful show, and its ratings were up 9% over last year. It’s often among the highest-rated weekly broadcasts in the country, according to Nielson.
In the letter from Bilton, he said Pelley “hijacked” the meeting Monday
“Yesterday’s performative display of hostility enacted in front of the staff instead of in a civil, private conversation, demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show, or approaching my new tenure with a mind open to collaboration and progress,” Bilton wrote. “I am here to deliver first-in-class news programming, not to make headlines about newsroom drama. I am eager to work alongside those who share this goal.”
Pelley, in The Times interview, said the letter “betrays a complete misunderstanding of what we work for and what we live for at 60 Minutes.”
He also told The Times on Tuesday that “incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc” at the network. “The collapse of values at the top has become untenable.”
He alleged that management had pressured him to insert bias into his stories over the past season, though he didn’t give details.
Now the show is down four of its correspondents: Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were fired last week, and Anderson Cooper left the show in May at the end of the season.
Weiss was hired last year by David Ellison, CBS owner and son of tech mogul Larry Ellison. She was given the order to revamp the news for the digital era. Weiss is an opinion writer with little broadcast experience. Bilton is a tech journalist with no experience in broadcasting.
CBS management had a meeting with Pelley on Tuesday to discuss the situation and find a way to move forward, but it turned contentious, some people with knowledge told The Times. Pelley said in the interview with The Times that Weiss wouldn’t answer his questions about why Simon, Alfonsi and Vega were fired.
Pelley said Weiss’ behavior “was cold and callous and beneath the dignity of CBS News.”
Weiss told staff Wednesday morning that “despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways.”
But Pelley said it wasn’t true. “At no point did anyone at the Tuesday meeting suggest that there could be steps taken by either side that would lead to a resolution,” he said.
Scott Pelley, a signature on-air talent for “60 Minutes,” was ousted from CBS News a day after he blasted the division’s top management over the firing of the program’s executive producer and two correspondents.
“We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” the newly installed executive producer Nick Bilton said in a message sent to staff Tuesday.
The network announced Pelley’s departure after a meeting with top CBS News management late Tuesday, where the veteran correspondent continued to ask for answers on why “60 Minutes” executive producer Tanya Simon and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecila Vega were let go last week, according to people familiar with the discussions who were not authorized to speak publicly. Editor in Chief Bari Weiss would not address the matter at the meeting.
Pelley’s departure follows a contentious “60 Minutes” staff meeting on Monday where he accused Weiss of “murdering” the country’s most-watched news program.
Pelley also raised doubts over the credentials of Bilton, the former New York Times journalist and documentary filmmaker named last week to run the venerable newsmagazine, citing his lack of experience in TV news.
Bilton attempted to defend Weiss, who was not at the meeting, and asserted that CBS News management was committed to guiding “60 Minutes” into the digital future.
“She is murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” Pelley said of Weiss at the meeting held at the program’s Manhattan headquarters. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”
Pelley’s stunning remarks at the meeting were applauded by his colleagues. But veterans in the division — who were shocked by the confrontation— took it as a sign that he was ready to leave the program.
Pelley is the fourth correspondent to depart “60 Minutes” since Weiss joined CBS News. Anderson Cooper, who also anchors at CNN, chose not to sign a new deal, citing family reasons, although many insiders said he was not comfortable with the direction of CBS News. Alfonsi and Vega were severed last week.
Those vacancies mean “60 Minutes” will have to line up new talent quickly to fill the correspondent roles. Production on segments for the 2026-27 season is already underway.
Pelley, 68, started his career at CBS News in 1989. He covered the Gulf War for the network, traveling in Iraq and Kuwait. He later became chief White House correspondent during Bill Clinton’s turbulent second term.
Pelley became a correspondent for “60 Minutes II,” a midweek edition of the program that ran from 1999 to 2005. After the program was canceled, Pelley moved to the Sunday flagship edition.
The fate of “60 Minutes” — which saw a 9% audience increase and massive spikes in viewing across social media platforms this past season — has been an ongoing saga since President Trump sued the program over the editing of an interview with his 2024 opponent former Vice President Kamala Harris.
The suit was settled just ahead of the Federal Communications Commission clearing the way for the takeover of Paramount by David Ellison’s Skydance Media.
Ellison acquired Weiss’ digital start-up the Free Press, which established itself as a voice critical of so-called woke politics. She was given a mandate to move CBS News to the political center, which created a perception that her role is to placate the Trump White House as Paramount seeks regulatory approval to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
Nick Bilton, the new executive producer of “60 Minutes,” received a hostile welcome Monday from the CBS News program’s most respected correspondent Scott Pelley as the staff is still reeling over last week’s firings.
In the first staff meeting since Bilton was named last week, Pelley accused CBS News Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the country’s most-watched news program, which recently finished the TV season with a 9 percent ratings increase. Recordings of the meeting were circulated to journalists.
“She is murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” Pelley said. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.” Pelley also attacked the credentials of Bilton, a former New York Times tech reporter and documentary filmmaker who like Weiss has no previous experience running a TV news operation.
David Ellison, chief executive of CBS News parent Paramount, brought in Weiss — a skeptic of legacy media — with a mandate to move the division more to the political center. But many critics have seen the move as an attempt to placate the Trump administration while Ellison seeks regulatory approval for his deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery,
“60 Minutes,” has long been in Trump’s cross hairs. The president sued the program last year over the editing of an interview with his 2024 opponent former Vice President Kamala Harris. The suit was settled just ahead of the Federal Communications Commission clearing the way for Ellison’s Skydance Media takeover of Paramount.
One person close to “60 Minutes” said attendees at the meeting in the Manhattan West Side offices described it as something they had never witnessed in their careers. The confrontation — and the applause Pelley received from his colleagues during the meeting — also demonstrates how CBS News management may have underestimated the staff’s devotion to the program, now closing in on its sixth decade, that has long been considered the most powerful and respected platform in TV journalism.
A representative for CBS News declined comment on the meeting.
Pelley is held in especially high stature at the network due to his work over the years in dangerous war zones. When he was anchor at the “CBS Evening News,” he displayed photos of CBS News journalists who have died in the line of duty for the network going back to George Polk, who was killed during Greece’s civil war in 1948.
People close to CBS News management said both Bilton and Weiss reached out to Pelley last week to discuss the changes and their plans for the program’s future but he did not respond.
One CBS News veteran said the tense meeting “reads like Scott wants to be fired.”
Weiss has maintained she is committed to expanding the “60 Minutes” brand so it generates viewing and revenue outside of its Sunday night broadcast. But she has also clashed with producers and correspondents over the handling of stories such as Alfonsi’s report on the Trump administration’s use of harsh El Salvador prisons to hold undocumented Venezuelan migrants.
Alfonsi’s message to colleagues saying the segment was held for political reasons led to her dismissal from the program.
Vega posted a message last week claiming she had been facing pressure to insert political bias into her stories. “I very much fear what comes next for … the future of the legendary broadcast,” Vega said in a social media post on Thursday, referring to “60 Minutes.”
A CBS News representative said last week that Vega’s claims “are not based in reality.”
Bilton has tried to reassure veterans at the program that he remains committed to the program’s mandate to provide tough, investigative journalism. The words he’s used in several meetings are that next season will not be much different than the successful year the program just completed.
“He’s very much committed to continuing and extending the kind of journalism that ’60 Minutes’ has been known for.” said one person close to Bilton.
Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison has been circling the globe, meeting government regulators who will ultimately decide the fate of his controversial $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Last week, Ellison spent two hours answering questions from U.S. Justice Department antitrust lawyers in a bid to secure a key government approval — one that few people believe is in doubt because of President Trump’s strong support of tech billionaire Larry Ellison and his son’s ambitions to amass more power.
Throughout his travels, David Ellison has been accompanied by a savvy wingman: Makan Delrahim.
Delrahim, Paramount’s chief legal officer, served as the nation’s top antitrust regulator in the Justice Department during Trump’s first term. The 56-year-old Iranian American, who grew up in Los Angeles, is the architect of shrewd moves that have brought Paramount within reach of its blockbuster merger that would redefine Hollywood.
Politics have permeated the process — even before Trump announced he would get involved. Opponents have been suspicious of the Ellisons, given the family’s ties to Trump and programming changes to redefine Paramount’s CBS, including last month’s departure of late-night comedian Stephen Colbert and a shakeup at “60 Minutes,” CBS’ newsmagazine.
Buying Warner Bros. Discovery would give the Ellisons control of both CBS News and CNN.
Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. has sparked dread in Hollywood for another reason, too: Thousands of jobs already have vanished through a string of media mergers.
In an interview with The Times, Delrahim responded to concerns and criticisms. This interview has been edited for length and clarity:
Where does the regulatory process stand?
We are still going through the regulatory approval process. We actually started planning for the regulatory approval filings last summer. We knew we were going to be pursuing this transaction but it took a few months longer to sign the transaction than we thought. There were some interveners [Netflix, Comcast], but we planned ahead.
Do you have a commitment from Trump or his administration that you’ll get a thumbs up?
There are no deals with the president. We have a deal with the Warner Bros. shareholders. We’ve submitted [applications] to the governments of Europe, Canada, U.K. and the U.S., and that’s where it is.
You got a head-start because you filed a regulatory approval in December — months before Paramount had a deal with Warner. Why so soon?
We were always very skeptical [the Netflix deal] would ever go through. The only way to really show the [Warner] board that our deal would get through — because it doesn’t have antitrust problems — was to move as fast as we could.
One of the benefits being a former [DOJ] enforcer and having a team of outside lawyers who are also former colleagues and enforcers was that we anticipated what the government would ask for. Those were questions that we would have asked, and so we provided those answers.
Your timeline is aggressive. Some suggest Paramount wants this deal done before the mid-term elections.
I don’t think it’s aggressive. It has nothing to do with the midterms. The midterms do not change the officials at the Justice Department or the FCC — we have that minor application there. The midterms have no effect on the European Commission or anybody else. We’ve been very transparent and proactive with members of Congress and with the state attorneys general and the federal authorities.
Are you preparing to defend a potential antitrust challenge from Atty. General Bonta?
Well, no matter what field you’re in, whether it’s antitrust or whether you’re preparing for a football game, you always prepare the best you can for the worst, and you hope it never gets there. So, we’re preparing for challenges from anybody and everybody. But I don’t think any serious antitrust enforcer who looks at the facts, the law, the economics of this transaction will see an antitrust violation.
Why are you so confident?
There’s no element of this merger that is anti-competitive. Once you look at it, it’s incredibly pro-competitive. It increases output, it increases jobs, and it lowers the cost to the consumers. If you actually try to block this deal, you’re going to harm consumers, you’re going to harm creative talent, because you’re going to harm the creative ecosystem — the vision that David [Ellison] is trying to deploy here. It’s transformative from the efficiencies that it creates.
David Ellison has promised to release 30 films a year. Was that commitment to show that this merger will not be a repeat of Walt Disney Co.’s 2019 purchase of Fox?
I’m quite familiar with that one because I was at the Justice Department and reviewed it. Disney-Fox was a transaction with a different thesis. Disney wanted to get into streaming and they wanted to get scripted series. It wasn’t about studios trying to increase output.
Our transaction, as David has described, is motivated to create more content to feed the theaters, then streaming. We have a natural economic incentive to create more content. We’ll still be in fourth place after this transaction on the streaming side — almost half the size of Netflix.
David Ellison hasn’t made any commitments on the television side or pledged pledge to keep the various TV studios intact. Why?
I don’t think there’s much of an overlap on the television studios. Look, you have incredible studios in HBO, Warner Bros. Television, certainly our own studio. We’re not paying money to limit supply. It’s the exact opposite.
There is overlap between CBS News and CNN. How are regulators looking at that issue?
We’re very proud of CBS News and hopefully CNN, post-transaction. There is very limited overlap. Why? Because CBS News only airs a few hours a week of programming whereas CNN is 24/7, and it has international reach.
Antitrust regulators are going to see that it’s going to create synergistic effects. You might be able to cross-program and more people will be exposed to the incredible programming of CBS News. They’ll benefit from each other’s independent strengths.
During the first Trump administration, you said merger conditions were problematic because it’s difficult for the government to enforce behavioral remedies. Has your thinking changed?
No, I’ve been quite consistent. If there’s an antitrust problem, you need a divestiture [selling assets]. I don’t think there’s a remedy needed in this transaction. But having said that, we’re happy to engage with regulators to discuss where they see a problem and a possible solution. We’re always wanting to engage in constructive dialogue.
Would Paramount spin off CNN?
I don’t see that. I can’t see any antitrust reason to do so. That would be a weaponization of the antitrust law, and that would not be appropriate.
Many people in Hollywood view the merger with trepidation because of the prospect of more job losses. Others see it through a political lens. How do you evaluate the politics?
Politics is part of life. It’s part of the beautiful process of democracy. Generally, we are very empathetic to the folks in Hollywood, but this transaction will actually create more and better and exciting jobs. David is an absolute lover of films; he’s a filmmaker himself. For the first time, you are getting an owner who comes from the creative side.
Let’s be honest. There’s a lot of fear-mongering, particularly from people in Washington, D.C. They are running a political campaign. Some of these people are trying to inflict harm on this transaction really because of their own antisemitic views. Regulators and law enforcement officials will see right through that.
Do regulators share others’ concerns about the merger debt — $79 billion — for the combined company?
Some regulators appropriately have asked about it. They say: ‘This is what we have heard, that you guys are not going to be around because of this debt,’ which is just silliness. David and his family are owner-operators. They’re not rented CEOs. They have over 50% ownership. They put their money at stake and my money is on them.
After a complete shakeup at CBS’ “60 Minutes,” ousted correspondent Cecilia Vega said she had been facing pressure to insert political bias into her stories and dealing with censorship.
“I very much fear what comes next for … the future of the legendary broadcast,” Vega said in a social media post on Thursday referring to “60 Minutes.”
The latest shakeup follows multiple controversial moves by Weiss, who’s set on remaking the institution long defined by tradition. She arrived at CBS News in October with no television experience, installed by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison after he acquired her digital news outlet, the Free Press, with a mandate to change the network.
Ellison’s pronouncements that CBS News needs to move more to the political center has led to the perception that the network is trying to placate Trump with more positive news coverage, even as “60 Minutes” has remained tough with its White House reporting.
“Our responsibility is to preserve that legacy and vital mission by building a show that thrives in the 21st century,” wrote Weiss in her note to staff. “That requires a new approach: expanding ’60 Minutes’ beyond a one-hour television broadcast, deepening its role across CBS News.”
Vega claims, in her statement, that “in recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories.” She also said that reporting teams are holding back on submitting specific story pitches, due to the “fear of the internal repercussions.”
“Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self-driven,” Vega wrote. “It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.”
She said that in working at “60 Minutes” she’s had to keep stories rooted in fact and away from “questionable editorial suggestions.”
“I know from many conversations with colleagues that many producing teams and correspondents working on the show today have had to fight to maintain editorial independence with regularity,” Vega said. “I am far from the only ’60 Minutes’ correspondent who has asked herself, ‘What is my personal red line? How much can I push back before I pay the price?’”
In a statement, a CBS News representative said, “We respect Ms. Vega and her contributions, but her claims are not based in reality.”
Vega joined the newsmagazine in 2023, becoming the program’s first Latina correspondent. Before that, she worked for over a decade at ABC as the network’s chief White House correspondent and co-anchoring “Good Morning America.”
Several journalists like ABC’s John Quiñones and former Univision anchor Jorge Ramos offered words of support for Vega’s remarks. Quiñones commented, “Journalism is stronger because of your voice, your courage and your story-telling, Cecilia,” and Ramos wrote in Spanish that he respects and admires her.
