CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss may fire two 60 Minutes correspondents amid their criticism of her leadership.
Sharyn Alfonsi and Scott Pelley, each winners of multiple Emmys, could soon become casualties of Weiss’s overhaul of the show, sources told the New York Post on Thursday.
“It’s going to be a war,” a network insider told the publication. “They don’t think their s–-t stinks,” they added of the 60 Minutes staff.
The network is reportedly willing to buy out contracts, with Alfonsi’s up soon, sources told the outlet.
Alfonsi, 53, and Weiss, 41, butted heads over the program’s delayed segment on El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, which Alfonsi reported and which Weiss abruptly halted just before it was scheduled to air last month.
Pelley, 68, warned at a commencement speech last year that free speech was “under attack.” That came after he rebuked Paramount on-air for trying to appease the Trump administration to approve its merger with Skydance, which ultimately did go through.
The CBS insider told the Post that the news division at the company “is allergic to changes – especially 60 Minutes people."
Another insider said that Alfonsi and Pelley may figure that they can just wait out Weiss, who was installed by MAGA-friendly Paramount-Skydance chief David Ellison to help turn CBS News rightward.
“Everyone at CBS News knows there will be a boss every two years,” this person said. “She’s becoming a headache and Ellison doesn’t need a headache... They will do the bare minimum in appeasing Bari Weiss in the hopes she flames out.”
CBS News had three presidents from 2019 until Weiss’ appointment: Susan Zirinsky, Neeraj Khemlani, and Wendy McMahon.
Another source countered, “Everybody has a boss and they need to realize that Bari Weiss is theirs.”
A representative for Weiss did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast, nor did representatives for CBS News.
Weiss recently shocked staffers after she kissed President Donald Trump on the cheek when she met him after his November 60 Minutes interview.
“He was so happy to see her and she was so excited to meet him, they both leaned in and exchanged kisses on the cheek,” a source told The Independent.
Weiss may also start looking at how to use CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King once her contract expires in May.
Weiss could hone in on King in part because of her $15 million per year salary, Variety reported Tuesday.
King, 71, is reportedly considering a special correspondent role or taking a pay cut to remain on the show for another year.
