{"id":4714,"date":"2026-07-17T19:38:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4714"},"modified":"2026-07-17T19:38:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:38:34","slug":"ex-60-minutes-boss-bill-owens-pens-tell-all-ripping-cbs-paramount-while-collecting-millions-under-separation-deal-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4714","title":{"rendered":"Ex-&#8217;60 Minutes&#8217; boss Bill Owens pens tell-all ripping CBS, Paramount while collecting millions under separation deal: report"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Former \u201c60 Minutes\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4712\">Mike Francesa finally sells massive Long Island home for $7.5 million<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The arrangement, which was reported by Puck News, has raised alarms inside Paramount and CBS, where executives and lawyers have discussed whether Owens\u2019 book could violate the terms of his exit package.<\/p>\n<p>No formal legal action has been taken. <\/p>\n<p>A CBS News spokesperson declined to comment to The Post.<\/p>\n<p>Owens\u2019 memoir will accuse former Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone of surrendering to political pressure, alleges that corporate executives systematically interfered with \u201c60 Minutes\u201d and charges that senior management put merger politics ahead of journalism, according to Breaker Media, which first obtained the book proposal.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Owens described Weiss in the proposal as \u201can opinion writer who has made a name for herself by having a lot of opinions,\u201d according to Breaker.<\/p>\n<p>Paramount agreed to honor the remaining years of Owens\u2019 contract when he left the network, with the multimillion-dollar payments continuing annually, sources with knowledge of the arrangement told Puck.<\/p>\n<p>Owens was also required to sign a non-disparagement agreement.<\/p>\n<p>The apparent tension between those provisions and Owens\u2019 public attacks has prompted scrutiny within the company.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>He has already publicly attacked the company\u2019s new leadership. While accepting an award from the New York Press Club last month, he called Weiss \u201ca fraud\u201d and \u201can ideologue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Owens resigned from \u201c60 Minutes\u201d in April of last year, months before Weiss took control of CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>His departure was rooted in a bitter fight with Paramount\u2019s previous leadership over what he viewed as growing corporate interference in the news magazine\u2019s editorial process while the company was trying to complete its sale to Skydance.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4710\">Dem trans activist vying to replace candidate Graham Platner for Senate goes viral over absurd debate answer<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the center of the standoff was President Trump\u2019s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over the editing of a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Owens maintained that the broadcast had done nothing wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Redstone also became more involved in reviewing programming before it aired. After a controversial \u201c60 Minutes\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>Zirinsky later appointed producer Al Ortiz to screen each \u201c60 Minutes\u201d segment before broadcast.<\/p>\n<p>Puck noted that such reviews had existed at the program for decades and reported that Zirinsky and Ortiz exercised a light touch.<\/p>\n<p>Owens nevertheless concluded that he no longer had the editorial independence required to run the show.<\/p>\n<p>The turmoil at CBS intensified after Weiss arrived and began remaking the division.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Tanya Simon, who succeeded Owens as executive producer at \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley was axed after confronting Weiss and new executive producer Nick Bilton at a staff meeting. Pelley accused Weiss of \u201cmurdering\u201d \u201c60 Minutes\u201d and said she had been \u201cbrought in to kill it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4708\">Exclusive | Heartbreaking details of suicide notes Claude Lemieux left in his phone for family<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Post has sought comment from Owens and Redstone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Owens is preparing a scorched-earth memoir about CBS News even as Paramount continues paying out remainder of his multimillion-dollar contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ex-&#039;60 Minutes&#039; boss Bill Owens pens tell-all ripping CBS, Paramount while collecting millions under separation deal: report - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4714\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-&#039;60 Minutes&#039; boss Bill Owens pens tell-all ripping CBS, Paramount while collecting millions under separation deal: report - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bill Owens is preparing a scorched-earth memoir about CBS News even as Paramount continues paying out remainder of his multimillion-dollar contract.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4714\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T19:38:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=4714#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=4714\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-&#8217;60 Minutes&#8217; 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