It's a giant move in the world of TV news: Bill Owens, executive producer of 60 Minutes, has resigned as CBS and its parent company wages battle with President Trump. Owens is only the third top producer in the show's history, and the New York Times describes his farewell memo as "extraordinary:"
- "Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it," he wrote, per Deadline. "To make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience. So, having defended this show—and what we stand for—from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward."
- "The show is too important to the country, it has to continue, just not with me as the Executive Producer," he wrote.
The resignation comes as Owens has been trying to keep CBS and parent company Paramount Global from settling a lawsuit brought by Trump. The president accused 60 Minutes of deceptive editing in a Kamala Harris interview, but the show rejects that assertion, and Owen's camp sees any settlement as a capitulation. However, his resignation suggests a settlement is now near, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Another wrinkle in all this is that Paramount Global is negotiating with the Trump administration to get approval for a merger with billionaire David Ellison's Skydance Media, and Paramount's execs see a settlement as a key step in that process, per the Los Angeles newspaper. (Trump has continued to criticize the show's coverage of him, even suggesting that CBS should lose its license.)
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