CBS News’ CEO Wendy McMahon has announced she’s quitting the network – with a tense statement hinting at her unhappiness at the newsroom’s current state.
McMahon, 50, made her departure known in a Monday memo to staffers – one that made clear she was taking a stand against Donald Trump and a lawsuit alleging CBS News exhibits bias.
The maneuver was first reported by The New York Times, three months after insiders first said McMahon was set to lose her job.
Both she and now-former 60 Minutes boss Owens opposed Paramount heiress Shari Redstone’s plans to settle a $20billion dollar suit being brought by the president that alleges an October 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris was deceptively edited.
A settlement appears to be the sticking point for the Skydance deal to go through – leaving Owens and and McMahon in higher-ups’ crosshairs.
‘It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,’ McMahon wrote Monday as a result.
‘It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.’
‘Today, I am stepping down from my position as president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures,’ McMahon told her team, calling the less than two-year stint ‘one of the most meaningful chapters in [her] career.’
CBS News boss Wendy McMahon announced Monday she has quit the network
McMahon was one of the most powerful CBS execs who had been against the idea of settling a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump centered around an October interview with then Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on 60 Minutes
‘Leading this extraordinary organization has been the honor of a lifetime because I got to work alongside all of you,’ the now former CEO and president of CBS News and Stations wrote.
‘At the same time, the past few months have been challenging.’
The rest of the statement echoed one offered by Owens after his ouster last month.
‘Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,’ he wrote at the time, in a memo quickly leaked to the press.
‘It’s clear the company is done with me,’ he added at a staff meeting held earlier in the day.
McMahon was also behind the recent, two-host revamp of CBS Evenings, which was met with double digit declines within its first week of being implemented in February. Pictured, hosts Maurice Dubois and John Dickerson, who replaced Norah O’Donnell the month before
A settlement with the president appears to be the sticking point for the Skydance deal to go through – as it requires federal approval
Developing story, check back for updates…
