CBS News President Quits Amid ’60 Minutes’ Legal Battle With Trump

CBS News and Stations President Wendy McMahon announced on Monday that she is resigning over disagreements with the network as CBS’ parent company, Paramount, looks to settle a massive lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump.

McMahon said her time with the network was “a privilege and joy,” but added that recent months have been “challenging,” according to NBC News. Her resignation comes as Paramount moves closer to settling a $20 billion lawsuit brought by Trump, which alleges that “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris to cover up her poor answer while she was running for president. Paramount’s controlling shareholder and chair, Shari Redstone, wants to settle the lawsuit as she also seeks the Trump administration’s approval to sell her company to the entertainment company, Skydance.

“It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,” McMahon wrote in a memo to CBS News staff. “It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.”

McMahon, who took over as CBS News and Stations president in August 2023, put herself in the crosshairs of Paramount executives with her support of former longtime “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who resigned last month, citing a lack of control over the direction of the stalwart news program, The New York Times reported. The leadership at Paramount was reportedly growing anxious with how the show reported on the Trump administration.

Redstone also slammed CBS News leadership last October after it reprimanded “CBS Mornings” anchor Tony Dokoupil for asking Left-wing activist Ta-Nehisi Coates tough questions about the Israel-Gaza conflict. McMahon informed Dokoupil that he had violated “the preproduction process where questions are run through Race and Culture and Standards and Practice.” Redstone said publicly that CBS News’ decision to reprimand the anchor was “a mistake.”

“I think we all agree that this was not handled correctly,” Redstone said.

McMahon will continue to work as CBS News president for a transition period that will last “a few weeks,” according to George Cheeks, the chief executive of CBS. McMahon will be replaced by Tom Cibrowski, who recently joined CBS News after working for ABC News for 30 years in multiple roles, and Jennifer Mitchell, who currently “oversees 27 CBS-owned stations and manages stations operations in 17 markets.”