CBS News president and CEO announced Monday that she will step down, citing disagreements with the network’s parent company as she faces a $20 billion lawsuit and an upcoming merger.
Wendy McMahon, who has been leading the company’s venerable news division since 2023, said in a memo obtained from several media outlets it is fully shared on social media.
Tensions have been rising over the past few months, and McMahon has been described as “challenging.”
“Now is the time for this organization to move on to advance new leadership,” McMahon wrote in a memo.
In November, Trump filed a $2 billion lawsuit against CBS News’ flagship program, 60 minutes, over an election season interview with 2024 Democratic opponent Kamala Harris. Legal experts called the case a baseless case, claiming that CBS would almost certainly win. However, Paramount is reportedly in talks to Trump to pursue a merger with Skydance Media, a transaction that requires federal approval.
In April, longtime 60-minute executive producer Bill Owens announced his resignation, saying he felt that the news magazine had lost its journalistic independence.
McMahon reportedly stood at Owens. In a departure note shared widely on social media, Owens said:
Emphasizing tensions in the newsroom building, Scott Perry, a 60-minute correspondent, worked on Owens’ departure and gave Paramount an extraordinary on-air responsibilities.
“Paramount has begun to oversee our content in a new way,” he told viewers. “None of our stories are blocked, but Bill felt that he had lost the independence needed for honest journalism.”
The network remains that Trump’s lawsuit has no merit, but it is still trying to settle it as Paramount pursues a merger with Skydance. Skydance’s deal includes a $2.4 billion payment for families who own a Paramount Global chair family, according to Bloomberg News.
Many are worried that the Paramount lawsuit, which is settling Trump’s lawsuit, will continue the trend since the start of his second presidency, where businesses and universities surrender to his demands, to avoid punishment such as losing federal funds or losing access to federal buildings.
In particular, the law firm has agreed to do $940 million in pro bono jobs for the Trump administration and not consider the race of employment, among other concessions.
George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and Anchor has individually agreed to provide the foundation and museum $15 million to the foundation and museum to settle the lawsuit against an interview that ju-described discovering “rape liability” when Trump actually determined that Trump was liable for sexual assault.