Longtime “60 Minutes” producer Henry Schuster confirmed Monday that he’s officially left the CBS newsmagazine, saying his exit was “overshadowed” by recent staffing shakeups under embattled editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
Schuster, who worked for the news program for nearly two decades, took to LinkedIn Monday morning to share his employment update, sharing with his followers that “it was time for a change.”
“It has been a great run at ’60 Minutes’ and what I got to do there was extraordinary,” he wrote in his farewell note. “But I have been thinking about leaving for a while now and when the opportunity presented itself in February, I took it. And finally, it is official.”
The timeline appears to indicate that Schuster may have taken a buyout at the network when they were offered earlier this year.
As Schuster went on, he nodded to Weiss’ overhaul at “60 Minutes,” which saw Executive Producer Tanya Simon, correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, among others, dismissed all while hiring tech journalist Nick Bilton to be EP. Scott Pelley was later fired after clashing with Bilton during a staff meeting, where he accused Weiss of “murdering” the program.
“It has been overshadowed by the forced departures of so many colleagues and friends at the broadcast,” Schuster said of his exit. “What’s next? I ain’t the retiring type, so after a bit of a break, I will think about what comes next. Maybe I will finally get my high school diploma, or see if I have another book in me. Or maybe something else…”
Per Schuster, he has no plans to launch “a podcast or a Substack,” for now at least.
“If you have any interesting projects, please let me know,” he concluded. “I’m open to ideas. Thanks for your help along the way and on the way forward. My phone number will stay the same, for those who have it. The tide is up. Time to get out there!”
Schuster joined “60 Minutes” back in January 2007, where he covered everything from the 2008 financial crisis to the rise of ISIS to the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Prior to this, he worked at CNN for 25 years and penned the true crime book “Hunting Eric Rudolph” alongside Charles Stone.
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