Bari Weiss’s CBS News Tenure Has Some Paramount Leaders Peeved

Paramount brass is positively steamed at Bari Weiss after she began making sweeping changes at CBS News.

This week, the news giant fired 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley. That’s just the latest splashy change Weiss has made during her tenure. At the rate we’re going, there might be one more before the month is out.

However, not everyone over at the “Mountain of Entertainment” is thrilled with the CBS News helmer. A recent report from Status News explains how some Paramount decision-makers are less than thrilled with the changes.

Interestingly, this isn’t just because of the large-scale changes to storied broadcast programming staples. More of the people over at Paramount are nervous because her bold moves are scaring away creatives in other corners of their business.

CBS Entertainment’s Amy Reisenbach has reportedly been telling people in private that folks in Hollywood are not fans of Weiss’s work. Different showrunners from across the CBS brand have allegedly expressed concerns that the CBS News chief is sinking their boat from within.

It’s a lot to take in, but an understandable concern when the new head of 60 Minutes called broadcast television a “rapidly melting ice cube.” There’s some fences to be mended if all of this is true. And, it might be too late for all that.

Bari Weiss & Nick Bilton Mess With CBS News

This week’s big CBS News development was the firing of Scott Pelley. The veteran TV correspondent apparently made the mistake of having a terse conversation with the man brought in to steer the ship.

Bilton reportedly became flustered when Pelley asked about his understanding of the role he was in. The 60 Minutes fixture then asked about the moves to fire different colleagues before the new boss strolled into his position. It was raw and apparently left decision-makers uncomfortable.

This spectacle has spawned some big social media moments. Bilton reportedly said that he would not be intimidated by the display. But, in essence, Pelley was just giving the new head mad a taste of what some of the more adversarial 60 Minutes interview subjects get on the very program they make every week.

It’s a mess, and one of CBS’s own making. When they brought in Bari Weiss to steer their news division, everyone online saw the tea leaves. They knew things were headed in this direction. Weiss is closer on the political spectrum to the new owners at Paramount than the person who was previously in the chair.

That is not conjecture, but well-reported by numerous different publications. For a while, the hard work of the team at 60 Minutes was enough. Other members of the news division has helped keep the ratings up. But, how long can that continue in spite of the leadership’s best efforts?

At this point, it might not be any personal disagreement that brings change. Instead, it could come from advertisers and others with skin in the game.

(featured image: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Uber, X and The Free Press)

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]