Ex-’60 Minutes’ boss Bill Owens pens tell-all ripping CBS, Paramount while collecting millions under separation deal: report

Former “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens is preparing a scorched-earth memoir about CBS News even as parent company Paramount continues paying out the remaining years of his multimillion-dollar contract under a separation agreement that included a non-disparagement clause.

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The arrangement, which was reported by Puck News, has raised alarms inside Paramount and CBS, where executives and lawyers have discussed whether Owens’ book could violate the terms of his exit package.

No formal legal action has been taken.

A CBS News spokesperson declined to comment to The Post.

Owens’ memoir will accuse former Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone of surrendering to political pressure, alleges that corporate executives systematically interfered with “60 Minutes” and charges that senior management put merger politics ahead of journalism, according to Breaker Media, which first obtained the book proposal.

The former executive producer also targets Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, accusing them of politicizing the network.

Owens described Weiss in the proposal as “an opinion writer who has made a name for herself by having a lot of opinions,” according to Breaker.

Paramount agreed to honor the remaining years of Owens’ contract when he left the network, with the multimillion-dollar payments continuing annually, sources with knowledge of the arrangement told Puck.

Owens was also required to sign a non-disparagement agreement.

The apparent tension between those provisions and Owens’ public attacks has prompted scrutiny within the company.

CBS television chief George Cheeks and network attorneys have at least considered taking legal action over the planned book, though Paramount and CBS declined to comment to Puck. Owens also declined to comment on the record.

He has already publicly attacked the company’s new leadership. While accepting an award from the New York Press Club last month, he called Weiss “a fraud” and “an ideologue.”

Owens resigned from “60 Minutes” in April of last year, months before Weiss took control of CBS News.

His departure was rooted in a bitter fight with Paramount’s previous leadership over what he viewed as growing corporate interference in the news magazine’s editorial process while the company was trying to complete its sale to Skydance.

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At the center of the standoff was President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Redstone, who was focused on securing government approval for the Paramount-Skydance transaction, pressured Owens and then-CBS News chief Wendy McMahon to offer an official apology alongside a settlement of the case, Puck reported. Paramount eventually settled with Trump for $16 million, with Redstone recusing herself beforehand.

Owens maintained that the broadcast had done nothing wrong.

Redstone also became more involved in reviewing programming before it aired. After a controversial “60 Minutes” report on Gaza, she asked Cheeks to bring in veteran CBS executive Susan Zirinsky to oversee standards, a move Owens viewed as an intrusion on his authority.

Zirinsky later appointed producer Al Ortiz to screen each “60 Minutes” segment before broadcast.

Puck noted that such reviews had existed at the program for decades and reported that Zirinsky and Ortiz exercised a light touch.

Owens nevertheless concluded that he no longer had the editorial independence required to run the show.

The turmoil at CBS intensified after Weiss arrived and began remaking the division.

Tanya Simon, who succeeded Owens as executive producer at “60 Minutes,” was later fired along with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, senior executive producer Draggan Mihailovich, veteran producer Guy Campanile and digital operations chief Matthew Polevoy.

Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley was axed after confronting Weiss and new executive producer Nick Bilton at a staff meeting. Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” “60 Minutes” and said she had been “brought in to kill it.”

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The Post has sought comment from Owens and Redstone.