CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon quits as potential Trump lawsuit settlement
looms
[May 20, 2025]
By DAVID BAUDER
CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon said Monday that she is resigning after four
years, the latest fallout at the network as its parent company considers
settling a lawsuit with President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes”
interview with his former political opponent.
McMahon, who has led both the network news division and news for the
CBS-owned stations, said in an email message to staff that “it's become
clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It's time
to move on and for this organization to move forward with new
leadership.”
McMahon has made clear she opposes settling with Trump — just like “60
Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who quit last month.
Trump has sued CBS, alleging it edited an interview with 2024 Democratic
opponent Kamala Harris last fall to benefit her. CBS News has denied
that. CBS' parent company, Paramount Global, is in talks to potentially
settle Trump's lawsuit. At the same time, Paramount Global is seeking
administration approval of a merger with Skydance Media.
George Cheeks, co-CEO of Paramount and head of the CBS network, said
McMahon's top deputies, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski and CBS
Stations president Jennifer Mitchell, will report directly to him.
McMahon, in her note, said that “the past few months have been
challenging.”
“I have spent the last few months shoring up our businesses and making
sure the right leaders are in place, and I have no doubt they will
continue to set the standard,” she said.
In addition to the tussle with Trump, Paramount's controlling
shareholder, Shari Redstone, has expressed unhappiness over some network
coverage of Israel's war in Gaza, including a “60 Minutes” piece this
winter. Paramount began supervising “60 Minutes” stories in new ways,
including asking former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky to look over
some of its stories before they aired.
That extra layer contributed to Owens' resignation. One of the show's
correspondents, Scott Pelley, said on the air that “none of us is happy”
about the changes.
CBS News is also trying to establish the new anchor team of John
Dickerson and Maurice DuBois at its flagship “CBS Evening News”
broadcast amid ratings troubles.
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Wendy McMahon attends The Hollywood Reporter's annual Most Powerful
People in Media issue celebration in New York on May 17, 2022.
(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
 In his note to staff members, Cheeks
praised McMahon for expanding local news at CBS stations and
improving their competitive positions, along with improving the
network's digital offerings.
Despite the internal tensions, the “60 Minutes” broadcast has done
several notably tough stories on the Trump administration, and it
has drawn the ire of the president. He attacked the show after one
episode in April. “Almost every week, 60 Minutes ... mentions the
name ‘TRUMP’ in a derogatory and defamatory way,” the president said
on social media.
On Sunday's season finale of “60 Minutes,” a story that had been
scheduled and publicly announced about cutbacks at the Internal
Revenue Service was not aired. A spokeswoman said it was because on
Friday, CBS learned that IRS leadership had told senior staff that
it had decided to call some 7,000 probationary employees back to
work.
CBS said it would continue to report on the details and broadcast
the story some time in the future.
A Trump settlement with Paramount has precedence. The Walt Disney
Co. decided in December to pay $15 million to end a Trump libel
lawsuit against ABC News over a statement made by the network's
George Stephanopoulos regarding a sexual assault case against Trump.
The new administration has been battling with the media over several
fronts, including:
—Engaging in a court fight with The Associated Press over curtailing
access because the agency has not followed Trump's wishes to rename
the Gulf of Mexico.
—Making efforts to shut down government-run news services like the
Voice of America.
—Cutting funding to public broadcasting.
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