Following CBS News’ delaying of a “60 Minutes” segment examining the Trump administration’s deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, some media outlets have raised questions about whether the move was meant to curry favor with the administration amid an escalating battle for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount and its majority shareholders, the billionaire Elison family, recently sweetened a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery to the tune of $108 billion. Considering WBD is currently moving forward with a deal to sell its movie and streaming assets to Netflix, Paramount’s bid is deemed a hostile one.
This week, Weiss created a furor over her decision to delay the airing of a “60 Minutes” segment about CECOT, an unusual move given the network had already begun promoting the package ahead of its expected Sunday night airing.
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Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi interviewed Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to the notorious prison for the segment, which leaked online Monday after airing in Canada. Alfonsi lashed out at Weiss in a memo to colleagues, saying it was a political decision and would be viewed as corporate censorship.
Weiss told staffers on Monday she did not believe the story was ready for air and called for colleagues to engage in disagreement in a respectful manner. In her notes to “60 Minutes” colleagues about the segment, Weiss called for more aggressive efforts to get Trump officials in front of the camera and decried a “strange” portion involving analysis of the prison by Berkeley students. She has not called for killing the segment entirely, but instead wants more reporting before it can be aired.
Liberal media figures think something rotten is afoot, with several breathless reports alleging Weiss’ actions are linked to the corporate machinations and the Ellisons’ connections to President Donald Trump.
A Tuesday report from New York Magazine’s The Intelligencer suggested that the Ellisons are vying for favorable treatment from the Trump administration by censoring the segment. Larry Ellison, the billionaire father of Paramount CEO David Ellison and a Trump ally, has offered $40 billion of his own money as equity to help sweeten the deal.
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“The Ellisons, who are among the very richest men in the world, purchased Paramount earlier this year and are now after an even bigger fish: They are hoping Trump wields his antitrust power to scuttle Netflix’s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery and allows Paramount, instead, to consume WB, creating a new entertainment-and-media juggernaut,” New York Magazine claimed.
Despite this alleged power move, The Intelligencer argued that the Ellisons are “not yet on Trump’s good side, and that the president is “still fuming about 60 Minutes and how it’s still not sycophantic toward him — not in the way he’d like.”
Indeed, Trump took a shot at “60 Minutes” on Truth Social last week, saying the show was treating him even worse than before since David Ellison took over Paramount following its merger with Skydance Media this year.
A Monday report from progressive outlet The Intercept was even more explicit in its accusations of corporate interference related to Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The outlet contended that Weiss’ move to spike the segment was “a perfect example of why Paramount’s new owner, David Ellison, hired her in the first place.”
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“[Weiss’] job is to suck up to Trump, yes, but largely as a means –– not an end in and of itself. If Trump favors CBS and Paramount, it could undermine the pending Netflix–Warner Bros. Discovery merger, help Ellison take over WBD himself, and cement the Ellison family’s media concentration to further advance their business interests and their right-wing ideology,” The Intercept alleged.
The report went on to argue that Trump’s second term has undergone “a total abandonment of anti-trust law,” and that the Ellisons “have an opportunity to consolidate unprecedented control of media into the hands of one company.”
The outlet maintained that, through the power of the federal government’s antitrust laws, Trump could tip the scales in favor of the Ellisons in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery.
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According to the outlet, Weiss and Ellison’s “interference” into “60 Minutes” isn’t necessarily about promoting “Trumpism,” it’s about promoting the Ellison agenda and growing their vast media empire.
Earlier this year, Paramount closed a $8 billion merger with Skydance Media that required Trump administration approval.
While that played out, CBS News, which is owned by Paramount, settled an election interference lawsuit with Trump for $16 million over how it edited a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. The lawsuit was called spurious by critics and the settlement was viewed as an effective bribe to get the merger over the finish line, while supporters said Trump was merely holding a liberal media outlet accountable for its dishonesty.
Weiss’ defenders online have said her ideas to improve the story were entirely reasonable, and reports that Alfonsi’s segment didn’t include on-the-record responses given by the White House, State Department and Department of Homeland Security have generated further discussion.
There is no evidence that Weiss made any editorial decisions based on corporate or political pressures. Since she became CBS News editor-in-chief in October, her tenure has been closely scrutinized given her opinion background, particularly for her pro-Israel and anti-woke views.
Alfonsi was also the correspondent behind a controversial “60 Minutes” segment in 2021 that alleged a pay-for-play scheme between Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Publix that was harshly criticized by Democrats and Republicans in the state.
One thing is clear though: If Weiss did hope to generate less attention for the story by choosing to delay it, she was sorely mistaken. The segment, which can be seen here, has gotten infinitely more scrutiny than it would have if it had just aired as scheduled.
Weiss and CBS News did not immediately return Fox New Digital’s requests for comment.
Fox News’ David Rutz and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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