Wendy McMahon, CEO of CBS News, speaks during the Axios BFD event in New York City, U.S., October 12, 2023.
Photo: Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Wendy McMahon, the president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS News Ventures, announced Monday that she is stepping down from her role leading the company. The surprising move is the latest leadership upheaval for the storied news network which recently lost the longtime producer of its flagship program 60 Minutes amid a protracted legal fight with President Donald Trump over the show.
But McMahon’s sudden exit could be a sign that CBS News is approaching a potential settlement with the president as new reporting suggests that her departure came at the request of the network’s parent company Paramount Global.
In a memo to staff shared by Semafor, McMahon did not make a direct mention of the president’s lawsuit, but alluded to the internal tumult, writing that the past few months “have been challenging.”
“It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership,” she wrote.
Shortly after McMahon’s announcement, CNBC reported that the exiting CBS executive had spoken with Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks over the weekend and that he requested her resignation which she agreed to give, per sources familiar. According to the outlet, Paramount’s board sought to know details of planned 60 Minutes episodes in advance, a distinct change in policy and in how the program traditionally operated.
In April, Bill Owens, a veteran CBS News employee and executive producer of 60 Minutes, announced that he was leaving the network. In a memo, Owens cited a lack of editorial independence, writing that “over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience.” McMahon praised Owens at the time, saying in a statement “Standing behind what he stood for was an easy decision for me, and I never took for granted that he did the same for me.”
In the lawsuit Trump filed last fall against 60 Minutes, he alleged that its pre-Election Day interview with Kamala Harris had been edited in partisan fashion in order to boost her campaign prospects. Trump has also railed against CBS News generally, claiming its reports are biased against him and threatening to revoke the network’s broadcasting license. In his initial filing, Trump sought $10 billion in damages, but later doubled the desired sum to $20 billion in an amended filing. CBS News later released the unedited transcripts and video of its interview with Harris following a request from the Federal Communications Commission, writing that the provided materials would show that the interview “was not doctored or deceitful.”
Legal experts have largely disputed the legality of Trump’s lawsuit and have cast doubts on its chances of success in courts. But a drawn-out court fight was long seen as a significant obstacle for Shari Redstone, the chairman of CBS’s parent company Paramount Global, who is seeking to close a deal to merge the media juggernaut with Skydance Media. The deal, first proposed in 2024, requires approval from the Trump administration-led FCC to go forward. The Times reported in April that the president’s attorneys were beginning mediation talks with Paramount.
Owens’s departure came as speculation of a possible settlement between Trump and CBS News began to grow. CNN reports that McMahon’s exit could be an indicator that a settlement is imminent with one CBS correspondent telling the outlet that the news made it feel “like a purge is underway.” 60 Minutes notably addressed Owens’s resignation in a pointed segment that aired following his departure, offering praise for his work and directly mentioning the looming merger.
“Our parent company Paramount is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he had lost the independence that honest journalism requires,” corrsepondent Scott Pelley said.
