One of 60 Minutes’ longest-serving correspondents claimed that CBS’ C-suite was interfering with the show’s independence shortly after executive producer Bill Owens resigned from the newsmagazine Tuesday.
In an interview with Variety, Lesley Stahl, who has worked on 60 Minutes for 35 seasons and more broadly on its network CBS News since 1971, reflected on Owens’ departure from the program and the catalysts he claimed were behind it, specifically an unsolicited encroachment on how he ran the show.
“I have been made aware of interference in our news processes, and calling into question our judgement,” Stahl said. “That is not the way that companies that own news organizations should be acting.”
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Owens became 60 Minutes’ executive producer in February 2019, after working at CBS News for decades. He announced his resignation from the program Tuesday, saying that it had “become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run.”
“To make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience,” he continued.
Owens “just couldn’t abide the interference,” Stahl told Variety. “We hope that this message reaches our bosses, that we have a reputation to uphold. It’s one of the reasons that CBS News is valuable. It’s what 60 Minutes stands for, and we can’t lose that. We can’t afford to lose that. We have lost our boss because of it. It’s just crushing.”
Network CEO Wendy McMahon said in a memo reported by Variety that executives at CBS “are committed to 60 Minutes and to ensuring that the mission and the work remain our priority,” adding that they have “already begun conversations with correspondents and senior leaders, and those will continue in the days and weeks ahead.”
Representatives at CBS did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Owens’ resignation, and Stahl’s comments, come on the heels of a highly publicized legal battle between CBS and President Donald Trump involving an October 2024 interview with his then-presidential opponent Kamala Harris.
At the time, Harris sat down with Face the Nation, another CBS News program, for an interview which aired on Sunday Oct. 6. Trump alleges that when sections of Harris’ interview aired the next day on 60 Minutes, her answer to a question about Israel was edited differently than the broadcast on Sunday to make her look better.
He subsequently filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit, and amended it to $20 billion in February.
CBS and Owens have denied the claim. The network’s parent company, Paramount Global, has sought to settle the case, in part to get federal approval of a media merger with entertainment company Skydance Media.
“I’m hoping that Bill’s sacrifice … is a message that resonates and changes can be made,” Stahl added.
