According to The New York Times, the CBS’s “60 Minutes” executive producer is leaving his role citing the loss of journalistic independence.
“It has also become clear that over the past few months that I have always been doing it and that I am not allowed to run the show,” Bill Owens wrote a statement to the show’s staff. According to In the times.
Owens also said he doesn’t believe he can make “independent decisions” any more.
Complete notes for Bill Owens’ “60 Minutes” staff: pic.twitter.com/thqvaajvrm
– Michael M. Grinbaum (@grynbaum) April 22, 2025
Owens, the show’s third executive producer of all time, has been with CBS for over 37 years.
His departure comes in a time of great disruption for CBS and its parent company, Paramount.
President Donald Trump is suing the network for $10 billion, claiming he is engaged in a “deliberate deception” in compilation of an interview with former vice president Kamala Harris. (Related: Hours after saying that freedom of speech led to the Nazis, CBS aired rides with German police along with German police)
The network is It is reportedly As Paramount attempts to settle its lawsuit, it will merge with entertainment conglomerate Skydance Media. Owens is stubborn in the face of the lawsuit and told staff he would not apologise to Trump. According to In the times.
Owens was pinning for more independence, but examples of past misconduct in his network show that show autonomy in the show could have been a double-edged sword.
CBS fired Owens’ predecessor, Jeff Fager, in 2018 for sexual misconduct. CBS investigators said his misconduct was the founder of “60 Minutes” and was less serious than that of former executive producer Don Hewitt.
Draft reports from these investigators found that “physical, administrative and cultural separation between the ’60 minutes’ and the rest of CBS News allows for ’60 minutes’ employee misconduct.” According to In the times.
CBS has agreed to pay one woman who accused Hewitt of sexual assault over $5 million, the Times reported.
Les Moonbus, the network’s powerful former head, resigned in 2018 after multiple women accused him of sexual assault.
