MS NOW host Jen Psaki took CBS to task for its persistent attempts to appease the Trump administration, name-checking the network’s editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.
On her show, The Brefing, on Tuesday night, Psaki presented a comprehensive list of the ways CBS and its parent company Paramount Skydance have sought to curry favor with the White House. Weiss, who had no prior experience in TV news before taking the role, was one of those examples. Weiss was hired as CBS News’ editor-in-chief after its parent company, Paramount, acquired her news blog, The Free Press, for $150 million.
The segment came after Stephen Colbert revealed that CBS declined to air his interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, citing concerns about FCC Brendan Carr’s threats regarding the “equal-time” rule for late-night TV.
“The truth is that CBS could have chosen to challenge Brendan Carr’s bogus interpretation of the equal time rule, and it sure seems like they chose not to,” Psaki told her viewers on Tuesday night.
“That’s not that surprising when you consider the source, because CBS is part of Paramount Skydance, the company led by David Ellison, who, along with his father Larry Ellison, has been cozying up to Trump in what appears to be an effort to curry favor with this administration,” she continued before going on to discuss the company’s potential acquisition of Warner Bros., which owns CNN.
“David Ellison has already made a number of decisions at CBS that seem tailored to appease Trump,” Psaki said, explaining that Ellison’s Trump-friendly moves began with the cancellation of Colbert’s Late Show.
Psaki went on to note, “They also put opinion writer and right-wing apologist Bari Weiss in charge of CBS News, which has led to a wave of high-profile resignations from a number of respected longtime journalists.”
Journalists who have resigned from CBS News in recent weeks include Anderson Cooper, who is leaving 60 Minutes to focus on his work at CNN, and at least one other correspondent, according to CNN’s Brian Stelter, who did not name the correspondent in question.
Several producers have left the news network in recent weeks, with as many as six of CBS Evening News’ 20 producers taking buyouts ahead of company-wide layoffs.
One producer farewelled her colleagues with a fiery letter in which she argued that employees were being made to “self-censor or avoid challenging narratives” under the new leadership.
The Daily Beast has contacted CBS News for comment.
Psaki then went on to list another problem facing CBS since Weiss’ arrival, noting that 60 Minutes, which is now hemorrhaging talent, is the same program that found itself at the center of controversy after Weiss declined to air an episode examining conditions inside CECOT, El Salvador’s notorious mega prison where the Trump administration is sending deported immigrants. The episode was eventually aired weeks later, with minor changes.
The MS NOW host also highlighted Weiss’ decision to hire controversial health “expert” Peter Attia as a contributor, and opting to double down on the decision after his ties to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.
“Given all of that,” Psaki continued, “It’s no wonder that CBS made the decision to bow to Trump’s FCC and basically blocked Stephen Colbert from airing his interview with a Texas Democratic candidate.”
She noted that, “like so many of Trump’s censorship efforts,” this attempt was “backfiring spectacularly” after Colbert posted his interview with Rep. Talarico online, where it has now been viewed millions of times.
“Instead of just letting a normal candidate interview take place on a late-night show, millions of people are now tuning in to hear this message.”
