Photo: WireImage
Legendary 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley called out his Paramount bosses for interfering with with CBS News' coverage during an on-air rant during Sunday (April 28) night's broadcast.
Pelley concluded the episode with a tribute to longtime 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens, who resigned last week after claiming he no longer felt the independence he once had to run the program.
“Bill resigned Tuesday — it was hard on him and hard on us,” Pelley said while crediting Owens' more than 20 years on the job.
“But he did it for us — and you,” he added before suggesting that Owens' departure would end "accurate and fair coverage."
“Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger," Pelley said, noting that it needed to be approved by President Donald Trump's administration.
“Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” he added. "None of our stories have been blocked but Bill felt he lost the independence honest journalism requires. No one here is happy about it, but in resigning Bill proved one thing, he was the right person to lead 60 Minutes all along."
Owens' departure followed Trump filing a $20 billion lawsuit in which he accused 60 Minutes of "unlawful and illegal behavior," accusing the news program of deceptive editing in its interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent in the 2024 presidential election, last October.
“Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it. To make independent decisions based on what was right for ’60 Minutes,’ right for the audience,” Owens, 57, wrote in a memo obtained by the New York Post last week.
“So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward,” he added.
Owens, who was only the third executive producer in 60 Minutes history, was replaced by interim Tanya Simon, the daughter of late 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Simon, who had previously worked as an executive editor.