CNN’s Jake Tapper tore into the owner of CBS’ parent company following the sudden departure of longtime 60 Minutes producer Bill Owens.
Owens stepped down on Tuesday after 24 years on the show, telling staff that he was no longer able to make “independent decisions” and could no longer run the show as he had previously. His departure comes as the show faces attacks from President Donald Trump, who is suing CBS in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit.
At the heart of Trump’s case is his claim that 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris last year in a way that helped his then-opponent in the 2024 presidential election.
Discussing the drama at 60 Minutes on Tuesday, Tapper accused Shari Redstone—the owner of Paramount, CBS’ parent— of being “likely to bend the knee” to Trump and settle the lawsuit. Paramount is currently seeking a merger with Skydance Media, a deal which requires the approval of the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission.
“The president alleges that editing the 60 Minutes interview and running two different answers to the same question helped Vice President Harris and amounted to electoral fraud,” Tapper explained. “In reality, this is just editorial discretion. Editors do it all the time with recorded interviews, including all the time with taped interviews by Fox [News].”
“Now, Shari Redstone is the majority owner of Paramount, and she stands to make a fortune if this multibillion-dollar deal, this merger, goes through,” he added. “And it seems as if Shari Redstone is likely to bend the knee to Trump and settle this allegedly frivolous lawsuit.”
Tapper then read a comment from a 60 Minutes source, who told him: “The lawsuit was baseless. Owens wouldn’t apologize. He wouldn’t bend. He fought for the broadcast and for independent journalism, and that cost him his job. It’s shameful.”
Owens joined CBS 37 years ago before being appointed executive producer of 60 Minutes in 2019. He was only the third person to assume the role in the show’s six-decade history.
Another source told Tapper: “Bill had widespread support at 60. He’s dedicated his life to CBS and the broadcast and this was his last act of dedication to it.”
“It’s like a guy who has been battling for months against an attack, unable to defend the broadcast from inappropriate corporate influence,” the source added. “He pulls the pin from his last grenade. He sacrificed himself, hoping it might make our corporate overlords wake up and realize they risk destroying what makes 60 Minutes great.”
“It seems clear now, in a quest to sell the company, Shari Redstone and others will bow to presidential pressure,” the source said. “60 Minutes is one of the crown jewels of American broadcast journalism, and they have no problem crushing it in their race to make a deal and make themselves richer.”
Tapper then cited some of Trump’s hostile actions towards the media, adding: “That is the context of Shari Redstone’s likely bending of the knee. Hope the money’s worth it, Shari.”
The CNN host noted that Redstone had no comment when contacted by his network.
In a memo to staff on Tuesday, Bill Owens wrote: “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,” according to The Washington Post.
“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,” Owens added.
The Daily Beast has reached out to CBS for comment.
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