MAD AS HELL

Explosive Book From ‘60 Minutes’ Producer Set to Blow Up CBS

Former executive producer Bill Owens is working on a tell-all memoir.

Former 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens is writing a tell-all memoir that blasts CBS, Paramount, and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss.

Owens, who had worked at CBS News since 1988, quit 60 Minutes a year ago, reportedly over pressure to avoid stories that could have been damaging to its parent company, Paramount.

A new book chronicling his 37-year career at CBS News and 60 Minutes “promises to blow the lid off the inner workings” of the network, according to Breaker, which obtained and reviewed a 22-page book proposal from the veteran TV producer.

Owens “doesn’t hold back” in unloading on his former employer, which he now calls “the worst-run media company in the history of America.” In the proposal, he also takes aim at Weiss, Breaker reported.

David Ellison, the new owner of CBS, appointed Weiss to oversee CBS News after acquiring her The Free Press website.

CBS Evening News has continued to struggle with declining ratings following Weiss’s decision to appoint Tony Dokoupil as anchor, its audience regularly dipping below 4 million viewers, an important industry benchmark. CBS Mornings has also struggled with ratings since Weiss’s appointment.

In his book proposal, Owens described Weiss as “an opinion writer who has made a name for herself by having a lot of opinions.”

“In her first week at the helm, she asked each journalist to do some homework. Write a note to her about everything you are working on - her version of - what did you do over summer break, children?” he wrote.

Owens also delves into Paramount’s agreement to pay President Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit he filed against CBS over a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, which the president claimed was misleadingly edited.

“There wasn’t a lawyer alive who believed the case had merit, and I didn’t want to set a precedent by handing over all of our interviews to the candidate who was pointing a gun at us,” Owens wrote in his book proposal, according to Breaker.

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“Again, the lawyers all agreed, but Shari Redstone, the Paramount lobbyists, and CEO George Cheeks desperately wanted to capitulate. They also thought we should apologize. Apologize? Nope,” Owens added, describing the settlement as “corporate cowardice.”

Owens joins former 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley in publicly criticizing Weiss since her appointment last October.

After more than 35 years with CBS, Pelley was fired on June 2 after a heated verbal confrontation in which he accused Weiss of “murdering” CBS News. He has since signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

The Daily Beast has contacted CBS News for comment.

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Isabel van BrugenFreelance Writer

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