WRITING ON THE WALL

MAGA-Curious CBS Boss’ Own New Hire Issues Dire Warning for Her

Broadcast veteran Trevor Philips didn’t mince his words about the battle Bari Weiss is facing.

The woman spearheading CBS News’ Trump-friendly overhaul just got a dire warning from one of the people she hired to salvage the network’s flailing flagship program.

Bari Weiss, 42, took on the top job after MAGA ally David Ellison, son of Trump megadonor Larry Ellison, took over CBS’ parent company in a controversial merger last October. Her tenure so far has been disastrous, with 60 Minutes in particular bleeding seasoned staff as a direct result of clashes with Weiss and her management team.

On a single day in May that staffers have since dubbed “Black Thursday,” she removed executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, senior producer Matthew Polevoy, and correspondent Cecilia Vega, while correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi’s contract lapsed unrenewed the same week. Days later, Weiss’s replacement for Simon, Nick Bilton, fired veteran correspondent Scott Pelley “for cause” after Pelley told him in front of staff that Weiss was “murdering” 60 Minutes.

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Weiss recruited veteran U.K. broadcaster Sir Trevor Phillips, 72, as part of a hiring blitz to fill the desks she had emptied. Phillips, a former politician and public servant, has sparked controversy for allegedly Islamophobic comments and for defending an associate of Jeffrey Epstein on the basis that nobody is “perfect.”

Phillips sat down with The Telegraph for an interview published on Monday before he starts as senior global affairs correspondent at CBS. When the newspaper asked about the “walkouts, firings, and bitter infighting” that has so far defined Weiss’ time at the helm, he didn’t mince his words.

“Bari and her team have a huge tanker of a network news organization to turn around, and they are assembling a little team on the bridge,” he said. “The great thing about her is that she’s one of those people who will either change the world or crash and burn.”

“But when they crash and burn, it’s in Technicolor,” he added.

Phillips’ words of warning come after a backlash not only to his own hiring but also to that of several others now expected to fill the desks at 60 Minutes. Chief among those new recruits is devout Catholic commentator Ross Douthat, who as a right-wing New York Times opinion columnist brings little-to-no reporting or on-camera experience with him.

Weiss’ executive producer on the program, Nick Bilton—a former NYT tech columnist and filmmaker who had never worked in TV before Weiss handed him one of the most prestigious jobs in the industry—has hailed Douthat as “one of the preeminent public intellectuals in America today, a thinker of uncommon rigor, and a journalist of deep empathy.” Industry veterans are unconvinced, with one TV executive telling Status last week that “the idea that Ross can be a ‘60’ correspondent is a joke.”

Other additions to the team include ex-VICE correspondent Gianna Toboni and war reporter Sebastian Junger, along with the promotion of CBS’ own Norah O’Donnell to full correspondent.

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Industry figures who spoke to Status measured the new staff against former titans of the show like Scott Pelley, Diane Sawyer, Mike Wallace, and Ed Bradley. One news veteran underscored that “these are the most coveted on-air jobs in TV news,” with another suggesting the recent hires “never would have been considered for the actual 60 Minutes.”

Weiss’ implementation of what critics slam as a rightward swing at CBS, along with an aversion to anything critical of the Trump administration, has coincided with a steep slide in ratings. CBS Evening News, now anchored by Weiss-hire Tony Dokoupil, has seen its viewership steadily decline over the past four months, with July marking the weakest month for CBS Mornings, fronted by network veteran Gayle King, in that show’s history.

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A TV executive who spoke with Status last week attributed the record-low ratings directly to the overhaul under Weiss, warning that “there is little hope these 60 Minutes changes will do anything but the same.”

The Daily Beast has contacted CBS News for comment on this story.

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