CBS News Star Matt Gutman Accused Of Sexual Harassment In New Lawsuit

CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman is facing sexual harassment allegations in a lawsuit filed by a former ABC News colleague, who claims he made inappropriate sexual remarks on two assignments during his time at that network.

Former ABC News field producer Samira Said named Gutman, ABC News and parent company The Walt Disney Co. as defendants in the suit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Said, who worked in ABC’s Los Angeles bureau from May 2021 until March 2025, alleges discrimination, hostile work environment harassment, retaliation, failure to accommodate her medical conditions and wrongful termination.

Said alleges she was “placed on a male-only team including on-air correspondent Matt Gutman” and two other male crew members. “While the team waited in a public queue during the assignment, Gutman initiated a discussion rating a female correspondent’s appearance and reducing her professional standing to a numerical score based on her physical attributes,” the complaint states. The other crew members allegedly joined in and tried to draw Said into the conversation; she declined and said the discussion was inappropriate, according to the filing.

In a second alleged incident, Said and Gutman disagreed during a press day for a film release about whether the team should leave the site. “In front of multiple coworkers, Gutman responded by making a sexualized insinuation that Said must have an after-hours date in the city and that this is why she did not want to relocate,” the suit says. The remark, “made audibly to others, demeaned Said and reduced her professional judgment to a sexualized stereotype,” her attorneys wrote.

CBS News did not immediately respond to the Daily Wire’s request for comment. Representatives for ABC News and Disney also did not respond. The allegations have not been tested in court, and Gutman has not publicly responded to them.

Said was assigned in May 2022 to cover the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, while still experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, and was required to interview child survivors, the suit alleges. She reported severe psychological symptoms afterward and asked her supervisor for a short leave, which was declined, according to the filing.

She was granted medical leave from August 2022 through January 2023, the suit says, though her bureau chief allegedly continued sending her assignment requests. Her psychiatrist cleared her to return in January 2023 subject to accommodations, but the complaint alleges ABC denied them and HR gave her an ultimatum: return without accommodations or not at all.

Said also alleges she was struck by heavy equipment while covering severe weather in 2025, causing a bone contusion. She reported it, but a Disney physician determined the injury did not require leave, according to the suit. ABC fired her in March 2025, shortly after.

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys’ fees.

Gutman joined CBS News on Jan. 5 after 17 years at ABC News, where he was chief national correspondent. CBS Evening News averaged 4.1 million viewers during the week of July 27 while he filled in for vacationing anchor Tony Dokoupil — the show’s best week in 17 weeks and the first above 4 million since late March, per Nielsen data first reported by Status. A CBS spokesperson attributed the bump to a heavier news week across all broadcasts.

Gutman was the first major on-air hire by CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, who took over the division in October 2025 and installed Dokoupil at Evening News shortly afterward.