By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-06 12:48:37 | Updated at 2025-03-06 16:32:49
4 hours ago
CBS News' senior-most staff are said to be 'disillusioned' by their scandal-stained, soon-to-be boss: a former NBCU exec who urged them to placate Donald Trump back in October.
At the time, Jeff Shell - now a senior executive at Skydance Media - called a meeting with CBS News chief Wendy McMahon and 60 Minutes boss Bill Owens, Status reported. Shell and McMahon are perhaps the two biggest presences in CBS's newsroom.
Skydance had not yet merged with CBS' parent company Paramount - irking staffers would also believed Snell's decision would cave to the demands of Trump.
Government officials were also in attendance at the meeting, the newsletter's founder, former CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy learned - laying bare a summit surrounding the then-days-old '60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris.
Shell, who was ousted from his post as NBCU's CEO in 2023 after his years-long extramarital affair exposed, is set to take hold over the network, when a proposed $8billion merger merger with Paramount closes - tentatively within four months.
Donald Trump had just began criticizing both '60 Minutes' and CBS at the time, before eventually launching a lawsuit alleging bias and deceptive editing on the part of the network. As of Wednesday, it remains ongoing.
Prior to the meet, Trump demanded CBS release an unedited transcript - after which Shell requested McMahon and Owens comply with Trump's demand, Status reported.
During the sit-down, he told them to release the transcript, people familiar with the matter said - recalling how the move immediately raised alarms.
In the months since, pressure from Shell and billionaire Paramount heiress Shari Redstone has not only continued, but worsened, the sources said - describing how camps are already forming, with some staffers backing Owens and McMahon.
CBS News's senior-most staffers - 60 Minutes boss Bill Owens and news chief Wendy McMahon (pictured together in LA this past May) - are said to be 'disillusioned' by their soon-to-be boss - a former NBCU exec who urged them to placate Donald Trump back in October
At the time, Jeff Shell - a senior Skydance Media executive - called a meeting with the two, who are perhaps the two biggest presences in the network's newsroom. Government officials were also in attendance, as the summit surrounded the '60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris
The accounts, offered to Darcy this week, come after McMahon and Owens were able to sway the media vet into first refusing the request, back in October.
However, the duo were ultimately forced to adhere to it last month, as part of the discovery process for the $20billion lawsuit.
Previously, the pair successfully convinced Shell that withstanding mounting political pressure was the way to go, and would protect both 60 Minutes and CBS's long-held reputation.
McMahon and Owens would afterwards admit to associates they were perturbed by Shell's intervention, source told Status.
They pointed out how Paramount’s merger with Skydance has still yet to close, and how corporate interference in journalistic matters are typically frowned upon.
McMahon and Owens have since been left troubled, people briefed on the situation told the newsletter - while describing an unmistakable air of alarm within CBS's Manhattan office.
The rising pressure, they said, stems in large part from Trump's lawsuit, and the fact that McMahon and Owens now see Shell - and Skydance - as a direct threat to the independence of CBS News.
Privately, the pair have also described feeling astonished, alarmed, and increasingly disillusioned by the interference, sources spilled - with some claiming McMahon's relationship with her prospective boss is already deteriorating.
Once there, Shell - who left his role at NBCU after having an extramarital relationship with a reporter - requested McMahon and Owens comply with Trump's demand: that they release a transcript of the interview, people familiar with the matter said
After initially signaling to associates that she had a positive working relationship with Shell, McMahon has since conceded to associates privately that that is now being met with some turbulence, they said.
Worsening matters is Redstone's reported desire to resolve the suit - an outcome that McMahon and Owens have since resisted, Status reported.
Shell, on the other hand, has reportedly made clear to both McMahon and Owens privately that they need to get on board with a settlement and such an admission - an ultimatum that has spawned widespread frustration.
As the pair continue to insist that CBS News did nothing wrong with its handling of the interview, they have reportedly received some backing from other staffers.
Many are expressing alarm at the notion of surrendering to what they view as a senseless lawsuit, privately amongst each other, Status reported.
Bowing down to Trump would be a betrayal of the newsroom’s principles, they believe - following McMahon and Owens' example. Despite the dynamic and mounting political pressure, the pair have decided to stay steadfast with their stance.
Shell, meanwhile, has reportedly suggested that a settlement would only be a temporary setback - even if a statement of wrongdoing is included.
McMahon and Owens, in contrast, view the brewing battle as one surrounding journalistic integrity - rather than overreach from a worried executive.
This, insiders said, immediately raised alarms - and in the months since, the pressure from Shell and billionaire Paramount heiress Shari Redstone - the daughter of the late Sumner Redstone (left) and chairwoman of Paramount Global - has not only continued, but worsened
The account, meanwhile, comes after McMahon pictured at the Golden Globes last year on the left) and Owens (seen here in 2022) were able to sway the media vet into first refusing the request - before they were ultimately forced to adhere to it last month as part of the lawsuit
Late last month, a former CBS News exec told DailyMail.com that Owens overstretched and feeling the pressure with this lawsuit from Donald Trump.'
The longtime 60 Minutes executive was enlisted to help oversee Evening News last summer, seemingly to mimic the success of 60 Minutes.
The move was made by McMahon, and was almost immediately met with a drastic reduction of ratings.
She's said to be next on the chopping block amid a parade of exits that included her deputy Adrienne Roark just weeks ago.
A source familiar with the matter, at the time, told DailyMail.com Roark's sudden resignation stemmed from a falling out with McMahon, after the latter discovered her shopping for a new job in the weeks before her exit.
'Adrienne was essentially Wendy's right hand, long before Ingrid [Ciprián-Matthews] was pushed out,' the source said, referring to the network's former president, who resigned this past August after less than a year.
'This was Adrienne's dream job,' the insider went on, referring to how Roark rose through the ranks after starting at a CBS affiliate in Ohio decades ago.
'Wendy found out that [she] was searching for a new job and got pissed.' Roark has since secured a senior role at far-less prestigious Tegna.
Worsening matters is Redstone's reported desire to resolve the suit - an outcome that McMahon and Owens have since resisted. The deal, set to see Redstone walk away with healthy $1.75billion windfall, is set to close this year, but requires government approval
'They brought back former president Susan [Zirinsky] just to get rid of her,' the source continued, naming another former executive brought back as a 'temporary' editor in January.
'Neither Wendy or Adrienne have the editorial experience of leading a national news organization,' they said, painting a picture of a now-years-long leadership crisis.
Shell, meanwhile, exited NBCU as CEO in April 2023 due to a complaint of inappropriate conduct by CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble.
At the time, Shell acknowledged he 'had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret,' before NBCU parent Comcast disclosed that Shell 'engaged in inappropriate conduct with [Gamble], including allegations of sexual harassment.'
Gamble’s attorney would later describe the case as one involving 'sexual harassment and sex discrimination.'
Shell, who is married, maintained the relationship started about 11 years ago and continued sporadically- up until a couple of years ago.
Before becoming CEO in 2020, Shell served as chairman of NBCUniversal International.
He's set to re-enter the C-suite leagues with the Skydance-Paramount merger, as Redstone stands to make more than $1billion. The deal, as Redstone reportedly pointed out, requires government approval.
Shell is pictured with his wife Laura at the Emmy Awards in September 2022. The two are still married. He's set to re-enter the C-suite leagues with the Skydance-Paramount merger, after the scandal saw him nixed from the top spot at NBCU and nearly upended his career
Trump, meanwhile, is in the midst of an unprecedented post-election revenge campaign against the press, filing a since settled lawsuit with ABC News that secured him nearly $16million.
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta settled a separate suit with Trump as well, as did Elon Musk's X.
The increasingly Trump-aligned CEO paid the president a reported $10 million to resolve a lawsuit filed against the company he bought for $44billion years ago.
This comes as figures like Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, and Jeff Bezos at The Washington Post continue to enact new strategies that some have framed as attempts to curry favor with the conservative.
CBS News, meanwhile, was tasked with fact-checking the president for his joint address to Congress Tuesday, his first speech to both chambers.
Double digit dips in ratings seen since an McMahon and Owens-masterminded, experiment for Evening News began a few weeks ago has also spawned concern - as well as slump that has raised alarm bells.
'I would say it's a five-alarm fire,' a veteran television news exec already told Status last week of the show's ratings, as the station continue to fell the heat from the legal pressure.
Toward the end of January, the New York Times reported Redstone prepared to fork over a yet-to-be discerned sum to make a lawsuit filed against the conglomerate by President Donald Trump go away.
