Former 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft believes the clock is running out on Bari Weiss’s tenure leading CBS News.
Another tumultuous week at the network under Weiss’s leadership led to the firing of several 60 Minutes correspondents and producers late last month. That chaos and a host of other controversies under Weiss have made Kroft, a correspondent for the storied newsmagazine for 30 years, say he doesn’t believe she will be around much longer.
“Everything she’s touched has turned to s--t. Everything she’s touched has gone colossally wrong. And I don’t think she’s shown any talent for this position. She’s only fulfilling other people’s agendas,” he told Variety.
“I have a feeling that Bari will not be overseeing 60 Minutes for very much longer,” he added.
He believes that Weiss and CBS owner David Ellison, the son of Trump donor billionaire Larry Ellison, do not have it in them to report critically on the Trump administration, especially as Ellison looks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a multibillion-dollar deal, and will need the federal government’s approval to do so.
“I think once the deal gets done with Warner Bros., people will demand that she be let go or move into another position,” he said.
Kroft told the outlet he was under the impression that President Donald Trump has had it out for 60 Minutes since he sued them over claims the program deceptively edited a segment featuring former Vice President Kamala Harris.
“This started as an argument between Trump and the show over the Kamala Harris piece, and the president of the United States made it very clear that he’d like to see this broadcast go away,” Kroft said. “He wanted to do away with it, and he’s intimated that from that point on. Some of the ruthlessness is coming directly from the president as a way to influence and make sure that Bari and David Ellison fall in line.”
Trump declined an invitation to participate in a sit-down with 60 Minutes during the 2024 presidential campaign, with his campaign opposing the network’s plan to fact-check him live during the interview. Paramount later agreed to pay the president $16 million to settle his lawsuit over the Harris interview.
“The Trump administration is concerned with the coverage of the Trump administration. And 60 Minutes has been tough on the first and second Trump administrations and are not afraid to call them out on things, and I don’t think this administration wants to tolerate it,” Kroft explained. “That’s why you’ve seen this whole thing blow up.”
CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
Weiss, who had no experience in broadcast news, was installed as editor-in-chief of the network last October after Ellison purchased her anti-woke news and opinion blog The Free Press for $150 million.
During her time, ratings have plummeted for its signature news program, CBS Evening News, and dozens of staffers have been fired or quit due to her leadership.
She had clashed with producers and former 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, whom she later fired, over her last-minute decision to shelve a segment on the conditions at CECOT, the infamous El Salvadoran mega-prison where the Trump administration sent deportees.
Cecilia Vega, who was the first Latina to be appointed as a 60 Minutes correspondent, was also fired on May 28, despite the fact that her contract didn’t expire until March 2027. She had been with the program from March 2023 until May 2026.
60 Minutes executive producer Tanya Smith, who had been with the program for 25 years, was also fired.
Anderson Cooper, who had also been a 60 Minutes correspondent for 20 years, quit last month, with his final broadcast being on May 17.
Kroft is hardly the first 60 Minutes icon to raise these concerns about Weiss’s leadership.
Last week, former correspondent Scott Pelley was fired within hours of voicing concerns about the direction of 60 Minutes under Weiss.
He has since said that “falsehoods and bias” in his reporting, and called her behavior “cold and callous and beneath the dignity of CBS News.” Pelley has also accused CBS News of attempting to “curry favor with the Trump administration,” as it seeks regulatory approval.
Weiss, for her part, is hunkering down amidst the controversy, Status reported. She has reportedly not been seen on the newsroom floor in weeks and has remained in a sixth-floor office suite that is accessible only to executives.
