MAGA-curious CBS News boss Bari Weiss still won’t listen to anyone despite her cratering ratings, a network insider has revealed.
The 42-year-old Free Press founder arrived at the Tiffany Network a year ago with ironclad support from the Donald Trump-affiliated Ellison clan, but since then has overseen a ratings drop, including for the flagship show 60 Minutes.
“She doesn’t hear anybody,” the person told Page Six. “If you don’t agree with what she’s saying or doing, it doesn’t matter. She pretends to hear ideas, but she really doesn’t listen to anyone.”
“No one can say, ‘That’s a bad idea,’” they added. “She looks at you like, ‘You don’t agree with what I’m saying,’ but there isn’t anybody who gets through to her.”
Since Weiss took over, several of her decisions have sparked controversy, including the promotion of CBS Mornings host Tony Dokoupil to anchor the evening news and pulling a 60 Minutes segment about Trump’s deportation flights to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador.
The news from Page Six follows a Wall Street Journal report that the CBS News editor-in-chief was passed over as head of CNN’s operations as the sale of the network’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, to Paramount closes in a $110 billion deal.
Instead, billionaire David Ellison, who will lead the new media giant, now named Skydance, asked CNN’s current CEO, Mark Thompson, to stay at the helm. Thompson is reportedly prioritizing editorial independence amid talks with Ellison.
According to preliminary Nielsen numbers from September, ratings for CBS’ 60 Minutes slumped to 6.77 million total viewers in the current season’s second episode. That represents a 15 percent drop from the season opener.
Not everyone agreed with the source’s claim to Page Six about Weiss’ listening skills, with a second telling the same outlet, “There’s constant input from the entire news organization, and she frequently commends the points raised by people.”
“I think most senior leaders across the organization think that she brings a ton of value with her ideas and perspective, and would also say that she is a great listener, who incorporates many other ideas and suggestions into the organization’s work,” they said.
The New York Post previously reported that Weiss had been promised CNN, but Ellison later decided it would represent too much additional work for her.
The Daily Beast has reached out to CBS News for comment.
