Gayle King takes aim at CBS leakers during all-hands meeting as Bari Weiss tells staff to leave if unhappy

CBS star Gayle King called out newsroom leakers as controversial Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss told employees to quit if they are not on board with her leadership during a bombshell meeting.

King, a network veteran of 15 years, took the floor at the Tuesday gathering to slam employees who have been airing out inside information to the public.

‘I also wanna say to the leakers in the building…I am so sick of that,’ King said, according to a meeting recording reviewed by The Washington Post. 

‘I’ll be curious to see how long it takes for this to get out, ’cause it’ll be somebody in this room.’ 

The seasoned reporter’s assertion garnered a response from Free Press founder Weiss, who chimed in: ‘I’m sure someone’s live-streaming it right now, Gayle.’ 

The CBS Mornings anchor’s contract is up in May and she must now decide whether to stay at the network in a new position that would slash her $13 million salary in half, according to The New York Post.  

She took the opportunity to try to silence the buzz surrounding her future at the company.

‘I read the sh*t and I go, “I don’t even know where that’s coming from,”‘ King rambled.

‘We’re right in the middle, we’ll see how it’s gonna work out,’ she added in a seeming reference to her contract negotiations, per the NY Post.    

This dig at double agents comes shortly after leaked emails reviewed by The Guardian revealed ‘huge internal concern’ about a report on Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. 

However, in a statement to The Guardian, CBS News said the piece ‘went through its rigorous editorial process and decided it was reportable based on the reporting, the reporters, and the sourcing.’ 

There have been countless other reports of internal drama – including when Weiss held back a ’60 Minutes’ segment on the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to a notorious El Salvador prison.

At the Tuesday meeting, Weiss denied that the decision was made to appease Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, whose tech mogul father, Larry Ellison, is a known Trump ally. 

She asserted that she only postponed the show because she believed it needed more reporting.  

CBS News has become particularly divisive under Weiss’ direction, as she has been a vocal critic of mainstream media and has no prior broadcast experience.

Critics believe she may have a pro-Trump agenda, although she has pledged to uphold newsroom neutrality. 

‘We’re for the center. We’re for the center-right, and we’re for the center-left,’ she reportedly said during her presentation at the meeting. 

She continued: ‘The honest truth is right now we are not producing a product that enough people want.

‘I am here to make CBS News fit for purpose in the 21st century.’ 

And she took a no-nonsense approach when addressing those who are not fans of her efforts. 

‘If that’s not your bag, that’s okay,’ she said, per The Independent.  

‘It’s a free country, and I completely respect if you decide I’m not the right leader for you or this isn’t the right place at the right time, there’s just too many exciting things to be spending your career doing.’

Weiss declared that the network has been far too focused on maintaining its current audience rather than expanding its reach to new viewers. 

To tackle this issue, she announced several new contributors to the network. They come from a variety of backgrounds and political stances. 

Many of the individuals have bylines with the Free Press, which Weiss founded in 2021, and are regarded as divisive figures.

The roster includes neurobiology expert Andrew Huberman – a popular name in the ‘manosphere,’ according to The New York Times. 

British-American historian Niall Ferguson and Substack publisher Casey Lewis, who examines youth culture, are also on the list. 

Aside from lashing out at leakers, King vocalized support for Weiss’ proposals. 

‘What I like, Bari, about what you outlined is that I don’t know anybody in this room that doesn’t want to make change for the better,’ she said, per the Washington Post.

‘I don’t know anybody that doesn’t want to kick it up a notch. And I just don’t want any of us to lose sight of who we are and the job that we do here. I’m so proud to work at this company.’