Inside the '60 Minutes' Storm

The meeting and timing of Owens' announcement came against a backdrop that has loomed over CBS News for months. Paramount Global, the network’s parent company, is trying to finalize a high-stakes merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media—a deal that’s been slowed, if not outright stalled, by a baseless lawsuit Donald Trump filed against “60 Minutes.” Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount, has made it clear she wants the case resolved. In recent days, lawyers for Trump and Paramount have entered mediation to explore how that might happen.

Both Owens and McMahon have rejected the idea of settling on Trump’s terms. As we exclusively reported last month, Jeff Shell, the incoming president of the new Paramount, communicated to both that they needed to get on board with a deal. But neither have been willing to agree to any settlement, especially one that might involve apologizing to Trump.

The pressure has been intense—and not just from inside the company and the executives who will soon control it. Brendan Carr, Trump's Federal Communications Commission chair, has used a related complaint against CBS News to torment Paramount. Carr's approval is required for the Paramount-Skydance merger to close and it has been quite clear that a greenlight likely won't be given until Trump’s lawsuit is resolved.

Suffice to say, what Redstone decides next will define far more than just the fate of "60 Minutes." If Redstone agrees to settle Trump’s lawsuit in order to push her merger through, it won’t just be a capitulation, it will be a stain on the legacy of the show, and on her own. The house of Walter Cronkite will have bowed before Trump on the world stage. It will forever be known that when CBS News was tested, it folded.

A spokesperson for Redstone declined to comment on Owens’ departure.

In any case, for Trump, the resignation of Owens, whose top rated "60 Minutes" has treated the thin-skinned president to aggressive and unflinching coverage, will already be seen as a victory. Trump has long vilified and raged against the show, and now the man who resisted corporate pressure and defended its editorial independence is stepping aside. It’s hard to imagine Trump not enjoying every bit of it—especially given that it has thrown the program into chaos, with staffers very much wondering what it means for the program. Will “60 Minutes” slowly be drained of its editorial independence, particularly with a merger on the horizon? Will some of the top correspondents, like Stahl and Pelley, opt to leave with Owens? Will all of this noise around the show tarnish its brand and trust with viewers?

In her own remarks at the Tuesday meeting, McMahon tried to answer the questions as best as she could. She acknowledged that the news “is incredibly difficult to hear.” She told staffers that Owens would remain with the network for a short period of time and added, “Bill will be with us in the weeks ahead so there will be time, there will be opportunity, to thank him for his contributions to ‘60’ to CBS News and to really journalism, writ large.”

McMahon called the remarks Owens delivered “brilliant and beautiful in its honesty,” and said she respected his decision and timing “because I respect Bill.” She also made a pledge to staffers in the room about what comes next: “I can assure you that the next leadership team of ‘60 Minutes’ will be from within ‘60 Minutes.’”

Stahl, who has spent more than half a century at CBS, addressed Owens directly, saying, “I have had many bosses, many bosses. And very good ones. But I have never been so proud to work for anyone as I have over the last year working for you.” She praised his ethics and courage, adding, “I think you taught us all a lesson of following principle and being courageous and fighting for what you believe in. And I know you have taken a hell of a beating.” She ended by saying, “I honestly don’t know how we are going to go on with you. And I mean that.”

That comment prompted the room to erupt in loud applause.

Later, Stahl asked a pointed question: “Is there a commitment from the corporation that they will step back?”

Owens replied, “The corporation is not talking to me at the moment. But I can tell you that young lady over there has our back and continues to fight this fight, week by week,” a nod to McMahon.

Near the end of the meeting, Pelley, who has worked alongside Owens for three decades, offered a deeply personal tribute. “No one could be a better champion for ‘60 Minutes’ or journalism in America writ large,” he said.

“This isn’t something Bill is doing on his own volition. You’re not being abandoned. There was no choice in any of this,” Pelley added. “Leaving you would have been the last thing that Bill Owens would do. And that gives you some sense of the sacrifice that he is making for us—the kind of sacrifice as he has made all the years he has been here.”

Owens then closed the meeting with one last reminder: “Don’t take this place for granted. And let’s just keep going.”

The applause that followed was long and sustained.

POLITICO's Pushback: Ryan Lizza’s break from POLITICO is already turning ugly. Just a day after announcing his departure and the launch of his new Substack venture, Telos, the veteran political reporter revealed that he’d received a cease and desist letter from his former employer. Lizza said the letter, sent Monday night, accused him of disparaging POLITICO in his debut post. While Lizza’s critique was pointed and mentioned POLITICO in a handful of posts, it notably did focus more broadly on the broader industry’s woes. Nevertheless, Lizza said the company’s lawyers demanded he take the entire piece down and refrain from making similar comments going forward. “It would be an extraordinary act of censorship for a news organization to attempt to ban a former employee from commenting on it in perpetuity,” Lizza (rightly) wrote Tuesday, standing by his post. A POLITICO spokesperson declined to comment.

• A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to rehire all Voice of America and Radio Free Asia staff and resume funding to the outlets. [CBS News]

• The founders of 404 Media got blunt, telling readers that the publication is already "seeing the impact" of all the "economic chaos" as people become more judicious with their subscription dollars. [404 Media]

• The WaPo inked an OpenAI licensing deal so that its content will be available in ChatGPT’s search engine. [CNBC]

• Nicholas Carlson’s Dynamo dropped the trailer for its first full-length business show, “Business Explains the World.” [LinkedIn]

• Jacqui Heinrich, a Fox News White House correspondent and WHCA board member, spoke to Natalie Korach about Donald Trump's attacks on her: They don't "keep me up at night." [Vanity Fair]

• Dana Perino chatted with Stephen Battaglio about her new book, "I Wish Someone Had Told Me." [LAT]

• Mediaite announced it will partner with Alisyn Camerota and Dave Briggs as it pushes into YouTube. [Mediaite]

• The NYT announced its inaugural "Hard Fork Live," which will take place on June 24 in San Francisco. [NYT]

• The Athletic partnered with the NBA and WNBA. [SBJ]

• WIRED hired Matthew Champion as director of multiplatform video. [TBN]

• The WaPo named Aaron Wiener its Berlin bureau chief. [WaPo]

• Raw Story hired Martin Pengelly as investigative editor. [Raw Story]

• The NYT upped Aliza Aufrichtig and Tala Safie to senior staff editors. [NYT]

From Pool to Swamp: The Trump administration continues to make a mockery of the White House press pool, using its new control over access to the briefing room to welcome propagandists who lob softball questions. On Tuesday, the White House selected MAGA podcaster Tim Pool for the “new media” seat in the pool, who used his time to trash the press over its coverage of Kilmar Abgrego Garcia, the Maryland man deported to an El Salvador prison despite a federal judge’s order. “Many of the news organizations that are represented in this room have marched in lockstep on false narratives,” Pool told press secretary Karoline Leavitt, giving her a free pass to criticize reporters sitting in the room. While he used his time to assail the journalists sitting beside him, he notably has not explained what he did with the hundreds of thousands of dollars he was paid to become a Russian mouthpiece during the 2024 election. 🤔

• Sarah Palin lost her defamation case—again—against The New York Times, again. The Manhattan jury needed only two hours to deliver its verdict. [WaPo]

• The Federal Election Commission knocked down a complaint 4-0 from a conservative group that claimed NPR helped Kamala Harris. [NOTUS]

• Pete Hegseth returned to “Fox & Friends” to defend himself amid fallout from the revelation that he messaged sensitive military plans in a second Signal group chat. [Deadline]

  • A notable endorsement: Ben Shapiro argued, “The White House should stand by Hegseth. He was their pick… and he remains the right pick for secretary of defense.” [MMFA]

• Steve Bannon bashed the Pam Bondi-led DOJ, claiming that the “Deep State is winning right now.” [Mediaite]

  • Meanwhile, Benny Johnson salivated over the Trump administration jailing a leaker: It would “be nice to see one of these people go to jail.” [MMFA]

• More Pope bashing in right-wing media, this time courtesy of Megyn Kelly: “Funding illegals coming into the country?” [Mediaite]

Google’s Cookie Crumble: Mountain View is reversing course on a plan to significantly alter the online advertising universe. Google on Tuesday announced it will keep third-party cookies on Chrome and abandon its previously publicized plans to introduce an opt-out mechanism that would have allowed users to choose not to be tracked—a decision that had been criticized by the digital advertising community.

► Meanwhile, an OpenAI executive said that if the government forces the Sundar Pichai-led search giant to sell Chrome, the A.I. giant would be interested in acquiring it.

• Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom testified at the landmark FTC trial that Mark Zuckerberg viewed the photo-sharing app as a threat. [Bloomberg]

  • Systrom: "Mark was not investing in Instagram because he believed we were a threat to their growth." [NYT]

• Uh oh Elon: Tesla’s quarterly profits plunged 70% amid the backlash against Elon Musk after becoming Trump’s top booster and DOGE hatchet man. [AP]

• Max started selling "extra members" accounts as the David Zaslav-led streamer cracks down on password sharing. [Variety]

• Richard Rushfield skewered the entertainment trade press for its coverage of Warner Bros. chiefs Micahel De Luca and Pam Abdy: "A mass hysteria consumed the entire press corps." [The Ankler]

• SpinCo boss Mark Lazarus appointed Matt Hong, Jeff Behnke, and Roy Cho to his leadership team. [The Wrap]

• An interesting story from Kirsten Chuba: "With Hollywood projects now often shooting outside of California, above-the-line talent are flying between their sets and SoCal homes on weekends and increasing their carbon footprints as a result." [THR]

• Harvey Weinstein's rape trial will begin Wednesday after a majority women jury was seated. [NYT]

• Powered by "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Othello," Broadway smashed through an all-time record last week with a total box office surpassing $50 million. [Deadline]

• Ryan Coogler thanked fans for the box office success of "Sinners," writing that creators "don't get to do what we do if you don't show up." [Deadline]

• The Screen Actors Guild Awards set March 1, 2026, as the date for its 32nd annual ceremony. [Variety]

• The BET Awards announced Kevin Hart as its June host. [Rolling Stone]

• ABC renewed "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," which will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. [LateNighter]

• Viewership for "Conclave" has jumped 283% since Pope Francis' death. [Variety]

• Steven Soderbergh is shopping a documentary based on the final interview of John Lennon, Matt Grobar reported. [Deadline]

• Sony Pictures dropped the trailer for "I Know What You Did Last Summer." [YouTube]