Bari Weiss, the editor-in-chief at Trump-friendly CBS News, is causing major tensions inside the network’s flagship program, prompting one star to consider her future on the show, according to a report.
Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl is said to be irate at how Weiss “upstaged” her by booking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an interview, only to hand it to CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett to conduct, according to Status.
Garrett is not a 60 Minutes correspondent, and Stahl has spent months attempting to secure an interview with Netanyahu for the magazine show herself. After learning that Weiss had booked Netanyahu and handed it over to Garrett, there was a feeling that the CBS News boss had “effectively gone around” Stahl and the 60 Minutes team to secure the high-profile sit-down.
This is not even the first time that the MAGA-curious CBS News editor has bypassed 60 Minutes staff. In March, Weiss booked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and also assigned Garrett to conduct the softball interview, rather than one of 60 Minutes’ actual correspondents.
Stahl is reportedly so disillusioned by the handling of the Netanyahu interview that she is considering leaving the show altogether.
The 84-year-old’s contract is year-to-year and is set to expire at the end of the current season of 60 Minutes. She is weighing whether to sign on for another season in the wake of Weiss going behind her back to book an interview she had been seeking for months, only for it to be assigned elsewhere.
A CBS spokesperson told Status: “It’s the editor in chief’s job to make decisions about bookings and interviews. Major is a world-class journalist and did a tough, fair, and newsmaking interview.”
60 Minutes, which has already lost its biggest star, Anderson Cooper, could soon lose another correspondent as Weiss plans major changes to the show.
Status previously reported that Weiss and Sharyn Alfonsi have repeatedly clashed over the controversial 11th-hour pulling of an “Inside CECOT” 60 Minutes segment about the notorious El Salvador prison.
Alfonsi’s contract at the network is set to expire at the end of May, but there have reportedly been no talks to renew it, despite negotiations normally taking place several months before top stars’ contracts are due to lapse.
Weiss also reportedly believes the move to give two top interviews to Garrett is a preview of how she envisions 60 Minutes operating in the future—as a way to cover CBS News’ broader reporting and coverage, rather than just the investigative pieces and interviews produced by the show’s team.
“There are myriad reasons why 60 Minutes has maintained its stature and ratings dominance for decades, and Weiss would be wise to think carefully about that,” Status’ Oliver Darcy writes.
“But it increasingly appears she has made up her mind. Which is to say that when the season finale of 60 Minutes airs Sunday night, it may very well mark the end of the program as it has long been known inside CBS News.”
The Daily Beast has contacted CBS News for comment.
