The executive producer of 60 Minutes, Bill Owens, revealed Tuesday that he’s resigning, saying that he had lost his journalistic independence, amid an onslaught of attacks on the program by Donald Trump.
“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,” Owens told a shocked staff in a memo obtained by The New York Times.
“So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward,” he added.
The program, which has only been run by three people in its 57 years on the air, has come under increasing pressure from Trump after he sued CBS News for $10 billion, and has baselessly accused the show of “unlawful and illegal behavior.”
Sources told The Independent that the staff and even executives were stunned by Owens’ announcement, and that it was a blow to an already demoralized workplace at the legendary 57-year-old news program.
"Everyone is in shock ... senior leadership down to interns, no one saw this coming,” said one source. “It really came out of nowhere.”
People “liked that Bill didn’t bend the knee to Trump, [his lawsuit] settlement ... and corporate overlords who wanted him to apologize,” another said. Staffers are now worried that the company will cave in to a settlement even though the network did nothing wrong.
Even as Trump is suing 60 Minutes, the controlling shareholder of CBS’s parent, Paramount, Shari Redstone, is trying to get the Trump administration’s approval to sell her company to Skydance, which is operated by the son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison.
Redstone has pushed for settling Trump’s case, which is based on what the president has called a deceptively edited October interview with then-Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, which was broadcast on the program.
Owens said in February that he would not apologize as part of any future settlement of the suit, and legal experts have called the lawsuit baseless. Many CBS News staffers view a settlement as giving in to Trump over what they see as complaints about editorial judgment, according to The Times.
Owens noted in his memo that 60 Minutes will “continue to cover the new administration, as we will report on future administrations. The show is too important to the country. It has to continue, just not with me as the executive producer.”
Ben Bogardus, an associate professor of journalism at Quinnipac University in Connecticut, said that Owens’ resignation from 60 Minutes “can be seen as both an act of journalistic courage and integrity, and something that could hurt the industry in the long run.”
He added: “His moral stance sheds light on what he sees as presidential interference in journalism, and may cause audiences to demand more independent reporting. But it could also embolden the president and other politicians to keep up their attacks on independent reporting.”
What's “clear is that this fight won't end with Owens' resignation. And it may get worse before it gets better,” Bogardus warned.
Owens initially worked for CBS as a summer intern in 1988 and was appointed as the executive producer of 60 Minutes in 2019.
The show has been a frequent target of the president’s ire. Trump abruptly ended a 2020 interview with Lesley Stahl after growing frustrated with her questioning. During the 2024 campaign, he refused to appear on the show.
Trump took to social media earlier this month to accuse 60 Minutes of “fraudulent, beyond recognition, reporting,” without providing any basis for fraudulent journalism.
Trump, who has pushed his government regulators to remove CBS’s broadcast license, also claimed: “CBS is out of control, at levels never seen before, and they should pay a big price for this.”
Redstone recently complained to CBS about a 60 Minutes story looking at the Biden administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. A day later, longtime CBS producer Susan Zirinsky was appointed to a new job in charge of journalistic standards, The Times noted.
CBS News President Wendy McMahon wrote in a note on Tuesday that she is still “committed to 60 Minutes,” and to ensuring that the mission and the work remain our priority,” the newspaper reported.
Commending Owens’ work, she wrote: “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.”
Is Kai Trump the next Alex Cooper? President’s granddaughter turns to interviews
Chancellor vows to defend British interests ahead of meetings in Washington
Trump admin gives markets hope on China tariffs ‘de-escalation’: Live updates
UN to review the impact of its agency helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere
Sarah Palin loses defamation case against The New York Times a second time
ICE ‘disappeared’ Venezuelan immigrant who accidentally entered Canada
