It will be hard to top the halftime show from the last Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium. That hip-hop extravaganza was headlined by Dr. Dre and featured performances Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and 50 Cent.
Maybe this time Guns N’ Roses can headline a tribute to the Sunset Strip hard rock scene?
Or if the NFL wants someone more current, how about Highland Park’s Billie Eilish or San Bernardino’s Fuerza Regida, both of whom were among Spotify’s most-streamed artists globally in 2025 (a list topped by this year’s halftime performer Bad Bunny)?
In a widely anticipated outcome that felt like a long-overdue coronation, Paul Thomas Anderson won the top honor at Saturday’s Directors Guild of America Awards for his Thomas Pynchon-inspired political thriller “One Battle After Another.” The ceremony was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
It was the director’s first DGA win after two prior nominations, in 2008 for “There Will Be Blood” and in 2022 for his San Fernando Valley reminiscence “Licorice Pizza.”
Speaking at the podium after receiving the award from last year’s winner, “Anora” director Sean Baker, a humbled Anderson thanked the guild, mentioning recent EGOT winner Steven Spielberg, sitting in the audience right in front of him. “It reminds me, being in this room, of ‘Close Encounters,’ ” Anderson said. “We’re all brought here for a reason — some cosmic thing brought us to this room. It was that call to the mountain. It’s that feeling that we all love making s— and we need to do it.”
Anderson also devoted much of his speech to remembering his first-assistant director Adam Somner, who died from thyroid cancer in November 2024. “May you be blessed with the relationship I had with him,” the director said, “and if you have one already, hold them close and remind them that you love them.”
True to tradition, the evening was both a celebration of achievements in directing and an occasion for much pro-guild testifying — from nominees, winners and Christopher Nolan, presiding over his first ceremony as DGA president. “We are the best at what we do,” Nolan said, touching on last year’s 40% dip in DGA member employment with a note of solidarity and urgency. “We are the storytellers. We are the people who have to innovate.”
All five nominees for theatrical feature film are invited to give a speech during these annual awards, with the eventual winner speaking twice. Guillermo del Toro, up for his personal take on “Frankenstein,” saluted Nolan: “I love saying ‘President Nolan’ because it’s so good to say ‘President’ with a good word after it,” he cracked to hearty applause. (The joke was echoed by several podium speakers.)
Ryan Coogler, a DGA nominee for “Sinners,” thanked the guild for his health insurance and mentioned his longtime dream — not of filmmaking but of joining a union, like some of the adults in his life growing up.
“Lately I’ve been learning about alchemy, “ said Chloé Zhao, representing “Hamnet,” her domestic drama about the grief-stricken family life of William Shakespeare. “You need fire and you need a chalice. To me, that fire is my creativity. It’s my birthright to create. And that chalice is the community that holds me.”
Indicating the respect the DGA commands among actors, several A-listers attended the ceremony to introduce their directors: Leonardo DiCaprio for Anderson, Jacob Elordi for Del Toro and Timothée Chalamet, the latter celebrating his “Marty Supreme” director Josh Safdie with sincerity and gentle deprecation. “I don’t think Josh will ever be ‘institutional,’ ” Chalamet said. “I think Josh will forever be an insurgent filmmaker and I don’t think the world would be right otherwise.”
An Oscar victory path is now clear for Anderson, previously nominated for the academy’s directing honor three times, for “There Will Be Blood,” “Phantom Thread” and “Licorice Pizza,” but never a winner. Twenty of the last 23 recipients of the DGA’s top prize have gone on to take the Oscar for directing.
Here is a complete list of the night’s nominees, with winners in bold:
Outstanding directorial achievement in theatrical feature film
Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures) Ryan Coogler, “Sinners” (Warner Bros. Pictures) Guillermo del Toro, “Frankenstein” (Netflix) Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme” (A24) Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet” (Focus Features)
Michael Apted Award for outstanding directorial achievement in first-time theatrical feature film
Charlie Polinger, “The Plague” (Independent Film Co.) Hasan Hadi, “The President’s Cake” (Sony Pictures Classics) Harry Lighton, “Pillion” (A24) Alex Russell, “Lurker” (Mubi) Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby” (A24)
Outstanding directorial achievement in documentary
Mstyslav Chernov, “2000 Meters to Andriivka” (PBS) Geeta Gandbhir, “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix) Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, “Cutting Through Rocks” (Assembly Releasing) Elizabeth Lo, “Mistress Dispeller” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, “Cover-Up” (Netflix)
Outstanding directorial achievement in dramatic series
Amanda Marsalis, “The Pitt,” “6:00 P.M.” (HBO Max) Liza Johnson, “The Diplomat,” “Amagansett” (Netflix) Janus Metz, “Andor,” “Who Are You?” (Disney+) Ben Stiller, “Severance,” “Cold Harbor” (Apple TV+) John Wells, “The Pitt,” “7:00 A.M.” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in comedy series
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, “The Studio,” “The Oner” (Apple TV+) Lucia Aniello, “Hacks,” “A Slippery Slope” (HBO Max) Janicza Bravo, “The Bear,” “Worms” (FX on Hulu) Christopher Storer, “The Bear,” “Bears” (FX on Hulu) Mike White, “The White Lotus,” “Denials” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in limited and anthology series
Shannon Murphy, “Dying for Sex,” “It’s Not That Serious” (FX on Hulu) Jason Bateman, “Black Rabbit,” “The Black Rabbits” (Netflix) Antonio Campos, “The Beast in Me,” “Sick Puppy” (Netflix) Lesli Linka Glatter, “Zero Day,” “Episode 6” (Netflix) Ally Pankiw, “Black Mirror,” “Common People” (Netflix)
Outstanding directorial achievement in movies for television
Stephen Chbosky, “Nonnas” (Netflix) Jesse Armstrong, “Mountainhead” (HBO Max) Scott Derrickson, “The Gorge” (Apple TV+) Michael Morris, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” (Peacock) Kyle Newacheck, “Happy Gilmore 2” (Netflix)
Outstanding directorial achievement in variety
Liz Patrick, “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (NBC) Yvonne De Mare, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “Julia Roberts; Sam Smith” (CBS) Andy Fisher, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Stephen Colbert; Kumail Nanjiani; Reneé Rapp” (ABC) Beth McCarthy-Miller, “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” (Peacock) Paul Pennolino, “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “Public Media” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in sports
Matthew Gangl, 2025 World Series – Game 7 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays (Fox Sports) Steve Milton, 2025 Masters Tournament – Augusta National Golf Club (CBS Sports) Rich Russo, Super Bowl LIX – Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Fox Sports)
Outstanding directorial achievement in reality / quiz & game
Mike Sweeney, “Conan O’Brien Must Go,” “Austria” (HBO Max) Lucinda M. Margolis, “Jeopardy!,” “Ep. 9341” (Syndicated) Adam Sandler, “The Price Is Right,” “10,000th Episode” (CBS)
Outstanding directorial achievement in documentary series / news
Rebecca Miller, “Mr. Scorsese,” “All This Filming Isn’t Healthy” (Apple TV+) Marshall Curry, “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” “Written By: A Week Inside the SNL Writers Room” (Peacock) Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” “Part Two” (HBO Max) Alexandra Stapleton, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” “Official Girl” (Netflix) Matt Wolf, “Pee-Wee as Himself,” “Part 1” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in commercials
Kim Gehrig (Somesuch), “You Can’t Win. So Win.” – Nike | Wieden+Kennedy Miles Jay (Smuggler) Spike Jonze (MJZ) Andreas Nilsson (Biscuit Filmworks) Steve Rogers (Biscuit Filmworks)
CBS News has no plans to drop health guru Peter Attia from his contributor role after his emails to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein surfaced last week.
Attia was among the 19 contributors named by CBS News Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss when she addressed staff about her future plans for the network on Jan. 28.
Two days later, Attia showed up in the latest batch of files on Epstein. A Stanford-trained physician who has gained prominence for his expertise in longevity medicine, Attia had a number of email exchanges with Epstein, including a crude discussion about female genitalia.
Another message showed Attia expressing dismay that he could not discuss Epstein’s activities. “You [know] the biggest problem with becoming friends with you? The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul …” Attia wrote.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution, including from a minor. He was and found dead in his jail cell in 2019, about a month after being arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges
Conduct such as Attia’s association with Epstein would typically be grounds for a network news organization to cut ties with an individual, especially one who is not a full-time employee. Contributors are usually paid by the appearance.
But Weiss is said to be opposed to cutting Attia, according to two people familiar with her thinking. As founder of the digital news site The Free Press and as an opinion writer, Weiss spoke out against so called cancel culture and does not want to be seen as reacting to the Epstein frenzy.
Weiss joined CBS News in October after parent company Paramount acquired The Free Press, which gained a rabid following due to its willingness to criticize the political left. She has been a polarizing figure since taking editorial control of CBS News, making moves that some insiders believe are aimed at pleasing President Trump, such as delaying a “60 Minutes” story on the treatment of undocumented migrants being held in El Salvador.
CBS News has not publicly commented on Attia’s status.
Two companies have dropped Attia since the Epstein files surfaced. AGI, a company that makes powdered supplements, has dropped him as a scientific adviser. He has also stepped away from his role as chief science officer for David, a protein bar maker.
CBS News is pulling a “60 Minutes” profile of Attia that first aired in October. The segment was scheduled to re-air Sunday on a “60 Minutes” episode made up of repeats, which the program typically runs when the Super Bowl telecast is on a rival network.
Insiders say even if CBS News’ ties to Attia are not publicly severed, it’s unlikely he will ever be seen on the air. Health-related segments on TV news typically come with sponsors attached. It’s hard to imagine any advertiser will want their commercials running adjacent to a former Epstein pal.
In a Monday post on X, Attia apologized for his interactions with Epstein. He said he had not been involved in any criminal activity and had never visited Epstein’s island.
“I apologize and regret putting myself in a position where emails, some of them embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible, are now public, and that is on me,” Attia wrote. “I accept that reality and the humiliation that comes with it.”
Attia wrote the best-selling book “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity” and hosts a popular podcast. His company, Early Medical, offers a program that teaches people to live healthier as they age.
Making his first major post-arrest television interview Monday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Don Lemon detailed the moments surrounding his incarceration and his experience as a journalist becoming the center of a news story.
“There’s a lot that I cannot say,” Lemon told Kimmel. “But what I will say is that I’m not a protester. I went there to be a journalist. I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening … I do think that there is a difference between a protester and a journalist.”
The appearance arrived less than a week after the former CNN anchor — now an independent journalist who hosts a YouTube show — was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles following his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church earlier this month. Lemon, 59, was released without bond Friday and is expected to plead not guilty, according to his attorneys.
On Monday’s show, Kimmel began the conversation by asking Lemon how he was feeling: “I don’t know — that’s an honest answer,” Lemon said. “I’m OK. I’m not going to let them steal my joy, but this is very serious. These are federal criminal charges.”
Lemon was arrested — along with three others in attendance at the protest — at the direction of Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, who said on X that it was in connection to what she described as a “coordinated attack” on the church, located in St. Paul. Lemon is charged with conspiracy to deprive the church congregants of their rights and interfering by force with someone’s First Amendment rights. Lemon has denied participating in the protest at the church — assembled to decry that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field officer apparently serves as a pastor there — saying he was present in a journalistic capacity.
Playfully acknowledging that he hasn’t been a favorite of President Trump’s since his time on CNN, Lemon said he hadn’t been concerned about his possible arrest — even with a re-post by Trump calling for it — until it gained steam by members of Trump’s cabinet, including Bondi and Todd Blanche, the U.S. deputy attorney general. Lemon said that after retaining a lawyer and volunteering to turn himself in to handle the matter without fanfare, he “never heard back from them.”
“That is customary in a situation like this, that someone would be allowed to turn themselves in,” Lemon said. “People who are who are accused of much worse things than I am accused of doing, they are allowed the courtesy. I mean, Donald Trump was allowed the courtesy to turn himself in …”
Lemon went on to detail the moments leading up to his arrest Thursday, which came after a night of covering a Grammys event for the Black Music Collective and attending a post-party celebration.
“I got back to the hotel, I walked in with my swag bag from the thing … and I pressed the elevator button and all of a sudden I feel myself being jostled, people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs,” he recounted. “And I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ And they said, ‘We came to arrest you.’ I said, ‘Who are you?’ Then finally they identified themselves. And I said, ‘If you are who you are, then where’s the warrant?’ And they didn’t have a warrant, so they had to wait for the someone from outside, an FBI guy, to come in to show me a warrant on a cell phone … They took me outside FBI guys were out there. It had to be maybe a dozen people, which is a waste, Jimmy, of resources … They want to embarrass you. They want to intimidate you. They want to instill fear.”
He said he hadn’t realized how much attention his arrest had generated until he saw CNN broadcasting the story on a TV monitor where he was being held.
“I could see ‘Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested in Los Angeles,’” he said. “I said to the guy, ‘Is that happening a lot?’ He goes, ‘You’ve been on all morning, yeah. And he says, ‘This is a big deal.’”
During the conversation, Kimmel criticized what he felt was a lack of attention to the recent search by FBI agents of the home of a Washington Post reporter who covers the federal government. Lemon, who parted ways with CNN in 2023, attributed it to a fear among the leaders of corporate press enterprises.
“Corporate media has been neutered right now. They are afraid, and that’s the reason I’m so happy with what I do, because I’m closer to the ground,” he said. “This is not time for folly. It’s not time for false equivalence, and putting people on television and on news programs, giving them a platform, who come on just to lie. …. Some things are objectively bad and I think its important in this time to point that out.”
Lemon hitting the late-night circuit intensifies its spotlight as a free-speech battleground. The Trump era has prompted more pointed and passionate takes from most of the major hosts that, in turn, have captured the attention and ire of the president, who has provoked threats against them and their broadcasters.
Last year, CBS announced it was canceling “The Late Show” after a three-decade run — a decision the company attributed to financial reasons and not, as many have speculated, because of host Stephen Colbert’s criticism of a settlement between the Trump administration and Paramount, the parent company of CBS, over a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
More recently, Kimmel faced a brief suspension last fall over comments regarding the killing of right-wing activist and influencer Charlie Kirk (ABC ultimately reinstated Kimmel following public backlash.) In fact, Lemon referenced that situation prior to his arrest, when a judge dismissed prosectors’ initial charging effort: “This is not a victory lap for me because it’s not over. They’re gonna try again,” Lemon told his followers on his YouTube show after the judge’s ruling. “Go ahead, make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel, if you want.”
Last Friday, addressing a crowd outside the courthouse upon his release, Lemon said, “There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable. I will not stop now, I will not stop ever.”
Before arriving at CBS News in October to become editor in chief, Bari Weiss had never been inside a television control room.
But on Tuesday, she presented her plan for taking the storied news division forward after a series of moves that has damaged its standing among viewers, failed to improve ratings, lowered internal morale and generated highly negative press coverage.
Weiss, addressing the staff gathered at the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan, reached out to those who have not been impressed with what they have seen so far. “I’m not going to stand up here today and ask for your trust,” she said, according to a transcript provided by CBS News. “I’m going to earn it, just like we have to do with our viewers.”
The statement was an acknowledgment that the early days of Weiss’ tenure have not been smooth. Weiss has dealt with her own lack of familiarity with TV news procedures, the entrenched culture of a legacy media institution and suspicion that partisan politics are driving changes. The town hall-style meeting was an attempt at a reset.
Weiss fought the claims that her mandate at CBS News is to provide friendlier coverage to the Trump administration as parent company Paramount pursues an acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. She said she has never discussed CBS News coverage of the White House with Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison, to whom she reports.
Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison attends the premiere of “Ghosted” at AMC Lincoln Square in New York in April 2023.
(Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
“I’m here to do one thing,” Weiss said. “It’s not to be a mouthpiece for anybody. It’s simply to be a mouthpiece for fairness and the pursuit of truth.”
She told employees her business goal for CBS News is to expand its reach on digital platforms.
“We are not doing enough to meet audiences where they are, so they are leaving us,” she said, adding that the network’s strategy until now has been “to cling to the audience that remains on broadcast television. If we stick to that strategy, we’re toast.”
Weiss said she wants to focus on expanding the most successful CBS News programs — “60 Minutes,” “CBS Sunday Morning” and true crime magazine “48 Hours” to other platforms, including podcasts, newsletters and live events. “We need to shift to a streaming mentality immediately,” she said, adding that “our competitors are not just the other broadcast networks.
The pronouncement — which could have been made five to 10 years ago — was welcomed by some CBS News employees who believe the operation has lagged in using its resources to expand beyond traditional TV. Overall, they were encouraged by Weiss’ remarks.
“She went a good way to bring people together,” said one attendee. “That was a good start.”
One question posed to Weiss, which is likely to loom over her tenure, is how much time does CBS News have to replace the substantial revenue still generated by traditional TV with digital enterprises. Ad rates for digital platforms are substantially lower than those for TV, which means greater dependence on subscriptions and other revenue sources.
Weiss did not provide any specifics on the level of investment for the new initiatives. “The emphasis going forward is going to be building things that people are ultimately willing to pay for,” she said.
Weiss said the network is recruiting “fresh young talent” that will focus on reporting first through social media, “but will appear everywhere else too.” She showed three recent hires based in London, Kyiv and New York who deliver their stories across different platforms using their iPhones.
Weiss also announced the hiring of 19 new contributors, several of whom have already appeared on the Free Press, the digital news site that CBS News parent Paramount acquired as part of the deal to bring her into the company.
The dependence on contributors, who are not employees but paid for their TV appearances, is commonly used on cable news networks that need to fill hours of programming.
Weiss has acknowledged to colleagues that she’s not familiar with the process of moving the assembly line of stories from the assignment stage, through the reporting and editing process and onto a schedule of programs, some of which run 365 days a year.
Her lack of experience was glaring in her handling of “60 Minutes,” the network’s most prestigious and profitable program. CBS News staffers were stunned when she decided to pull a segment on the abuses at an El Salvador prison used by the U.S. government to detain undocumented immigrants from Venezuela.
“CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil and the network’s chief national correspondent Matt Gutman.
(CBS News)
The story had been researched and reported for months by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi and fully vetted by the standards department when Weiss yanked it one day before its originally scheduled Dec. 21 air date. Alfonsi called the move political and the conflict added to the narrative that Weiss is trying to placate the White House.
Weiss insisted Alfonsi’s story needed more reporting including an interview with an administration official, even though the White House had already declined requests to participate. The segment ran a month later with only minor additions to the reporting which executives inside the news division say was not worth the public drama created by Weiss’ editorial decision.
At the meeting, Weiss acknowledged she would have approached the matter differently but defended her intent.
“It’s always gonna be my prerogative as editor of this newsroom to say that I want more information, and to push to get more information,” she said. “Now, am I ever going to hold something again after it has been put out there with promos? I don’t want to make that exact same decision again, no I do not.”
Weiss added that Paramount management had no influence on her decision to hold Alfonsi’s story. “I wanna just say this as plainly and clearly as possible,” she said. “I was not pressured by David Ellison or anyone else.”
She said the journalism standards at the network have not changed since she arrived, but believed the division has been more welcoming to a wider range of viewpoints.
“I don’t think a year ago CBS News would’ve had [former National Rifle Assn. spokesperson] Dana Loesch, let’s say, on the morning show,” Weiss said. “I think that’s something to be proud of.”
Weiss praised the revamped “CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil” — with a new anchor she handpicked, even though critics have been harsh and the ratings have slipped. All three of the major network evening newscasts are down in January compared to a year ago, but CBS is off the most at around 20%.
Segments on the program, such as Dokoupil’s frothy tribute to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a brief item on the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington that had President Trump calling it the fault of the Capitol police, were widely panned. But the attention has died down as the program has settled into being a straight-ahead newscast.
While the fiascoes involving “60 Minutes” or the first week of the “CBS Evening News” have been demoralizing, some journalists in the division are still hopeful Weiss can be a catalyst for change and want her to succeed.
But her rocky start will be tough to turn around according to Tom Bettag, a former network news producer who is now a lecturer at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
“Weiss started off so miserably with ’60 Minutes’ and the Dokoupil launch, that you wonder if she can redeem herself,” Bettag said. “You only get one chance to make a first impression.”
Weiss isn’t the first executive to be put in charge of a TV news operation without any hands-on experience. It was not easy for the others, either.
Michael Gartner, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper editor was appointed to oversee NBC News in the mid-1980s. During his turbulent five-year tenure, he struggled with talent egos as he tried to get costs under control. Walter Isaacson came from Time magazine to run CNN in 2001. He was gone after 18 months, expressing bewilderment over the public scrutiny of every network move.
Weiss’ previous management experience was running the Free Press, which has a staff of 60 compared to the sprawling CBS News operation with more than 1,200 employees around the world.
Weiss is also an anomaly as she comes to the job with an established point of view. Her journalism career was as an opinion writer before she launched the Free Press. The site gained a following for its criticism of the progressive left and purveyors of so-called “woke” policies.
Weiss has been vocal in telling CBS News employees that the public has less trust in legacy media, an assertion that is often pushed by Trump and his supporters. (She told the meeting that the network needs to target “independents … those who want to equip themselves with all the facts, who are curious to hear what’s going on, even if it offends their sensibilities.”)
Weiss carries that agenda while she tries to overcome the whispers of “she’s not one of us” at CBS News, which even loyal insiders believe leans too heavily on its storied history defined by 20th century journalism icons such as Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow.
“I think this place has allowed the ghosts of the past to walk these halls a little too much,” one CBS News journalist said. “They need to be acknowledged, but not obsessed over every day. The New York Yankees don’t sit around dwelling on Babe Ruth every day. They focus on winning.”
While “60 Minutes” and “CBS Evening News” are the editorial backbone of the division and are getting the bulk of Weiss’ attention, the division also has to chart a future course for “CBS Mornings,” a major revenue generator. Co-host Gayle King’s contract is up in May and last year there were leaks to an industry trade suggesting that Paramount wants her to return in another role and presumably a lower salary.
“CBS Mornings” is in third place behind ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today,” but still has a following and King is the most recognizable star in the news division. Morning show viewing is habitual and a change in the host chair could lead King’s fans to abandon the program. Once viewers leave, it’s hard to get them back, especially in today’s fragmented media environment where consumers have a seemingly endless array of alternatives.
At the town hall, Weiss gave a positive shout-out to King, who is angry over the press reports. “I’ve had people come and pet me like a puppy and say, ‘I’m sorry that you’re leaving CBS, I won’t watch those guys anymore,’” King said.
“I just want everyone here to know that she’s absolutely beloved,” Weiss said. “And we see her long into the future here at CBS.”
People close to the morning program who were not authorized to comment publicly believe King would return for another contract. But the network is already preparing for the future if King does depart.
Adriana Diaz and Kelly O’Grady were named co-hosts of “CBS Saturday Morning” and will be the principal fill-ins for King on the weekday program, clearly an attempt to get them familiar with the audience. “It’s a very explicit attempt to start building a bench,” said one insider.
Before the town hall meeting on Tuesday, many CBS News veterans were frustrated that Weiss had not addressed the entire division during the first three months of her tenure. King, who told colleagues she was impressed overall with the presentation, told Weiss they needed to meet sooner.
“For many people — they’ve never even heard your freakin’ voice,” King said. “So it’s good to hear, to see you’re a real person and this is what you want.”
