Ex-CBS News leaders Owens and McMahon explain 2025 exits at Jupiter Festival in Miami

Left · 2Former "60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens and Wendy McMahon, the former president and CEO of CBS News, spoke about their 2025 resignations at the inaugural Jupiter Festival in Miami. 1 2 Left · 1Owens said he left after nearly 37 years at CBS News because of corporate editorial interference. He said it felt "like the match was fixed" and that there were "calls for editorial censorship" coming "from above, from ownership through corporate leadership." 1 Left · 2The context was President Trump's lawsuit against CBS and Paramount over the editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris before the 2024 election. Trump alleged the network edited Harris's answers to flatter her, while CBS said the interview was not "deceitful". Variety reported the suit was preceded by an FCC-related review of Paramount's sale to David Ellison's Skydance; Paramount ultimately settled for $16 million, which the A.V. Club dates to July 2025. The A.V. Club puts Trump's claim at $20 billion. 1 2

Left · 1Owens said the show kept doing its usual work, including investigating Elon Musk's DOGE and mass firings at the Justice Department, but was told "Every week" to "Stop that." Owens also said the show did not release full interview transcripts because that would set a bad legal precedent. 1 Left · 2After Trump took office, FCC chairman Brendan Carr pressed CBS to hand over the unedited Harris transcript and feeds, which were published on the FCC website. Variety said they showed the interview had been condensed, not doctored, and the A.V. Club said CBS defended the edit as a matter of clarity and length. 1 2 Left · 2Owens announced his departure in an April 2025 staff memo, saying he was not "allowed to run the show as I have always run it." McMahon resigned less than a month later with a vague statement. At the festival, McMahon said she disagreed with CBS's apology and settlement with Trump and with the idea of an ombudsman, later installed under Ellison, and concluded "I could not lead that from a journalistic perspective, or a business one." 2 1

Left · 2Ellison later hired Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief; the A.V. Club dates this to October 2025. Variety said Owens and McMahon echoed criticism of Weiss's handling of a shake-up among "60 Minutes" staff this past summer. 2 1 Left · 2Owens also described job-hunting afterward: "all of the streamers wanted to talk to me," but every meeting ended with a statement that they "could never work with you." Owens suspects this was "Because they had already paid their tribute to Trump." Owens did not disclose future plans; Variety noted August reports that Owens was seeking funds for a new program, which sources close to Owens denied. 1 2