(CNN) — The top executive in charge of CBS News resigned on Monday amid President Trump’s intensifying political pressure against the news operation.
Wendy McMahon alluded to a “challenging” past few months in a farewell memo to employees.
“It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,” she wrote. “It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.”
While McMahon did not address Trump’s legally dubious lawsuit against CBS in the memo, the suit has been top of mind in recent months. McMahon has publicly stood up for the news division while its parent company, Paramount Global, has sought to settle with Trump while trying to win administration approval for its pending merger with Skydance Media.
The clash between editorial principles and corporate priorities has profoundly shaken CBS, one of America’s most distinguished broadcast networks.
Last month, “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who ran the program that triggered Trump’s ire, said he was stepping down, citing a loss of independence.
Owens and McMahon praised each other at the time, signaling a united front against Trump’s legal attacks.
Thus, McMahon’s exit — coming one day after the season finale of “60 Minutes,” no less — has employees feeling “like a purge is underway,” as one CBS correspondent told CNN on Monday. The correspondent spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak publicly.
McMahon’s departure also stirred speculation that a Paramount settlement with Trump is imminent. The company has not commented.
In a memo on Monday morning, Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks thanked McMahon for four years of leadership. He said that McMahon’s recently named number two, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski, will now report directly to him.
A person with knowledge of the matter pointed out that McMahon’s departure removes a layer of management at a time when Paramount is trying to slim down and spend less.
McMahon’s future was also far from certain under Skydance, the company that is trying to take control of CBS and the rest of Paramount.
But by stepping down now, and referencing corporate disagreements about the “path forward,” McMahon is highlighting Paramount’s controversial dealings with the president.
Trump sued CBS over the editing of last October’s “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The suit’s allegations that CBS violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a consumer protection law, have been derided by legal experts as frivolous and ridiculous.
CBS lawyers defended “60 Minutes” and its editorial judgment on First Amendment grounds. But Trump has blasted the network over and over again, at times even urging the FCC, an agency he has sought to control, to punish CBS by revoking its licenses.
With the FCC tasked with reviewing the Paramount-Skydance deal, top executives sought to settle with Trump to make the lawsuit go away. Mediation talks reportedly began at the end of April.
The notion of a settlement is anathema to “60 Minutes” employees. The transcript of the Harris interview, which CBS provided to the FCC in February, confirmed what the network said all along: It engaged in normal editing, not any nefarious activity like Trump alleged.
Months before resigning, Owens told “60 Minutes” employees that he would not apologize as part of any settlement, since the newsmagazine did not do anything to warrant saying sorry. McMahon also told colleagues that apologizing was a “red line” she would not cross, according to two sources who spoke with her about it.
Despite Trump’s attacks, “60 Minutes” continued to broadcast probing reports about his administration all winter and spring long.
McMahon acknowledged the viewing audience in her memo Monday, writing, “Thank you for your trust. You hold us accountable, and you remind us why this work matters.”
Anna Gomez, one of the Democrats on the Republican-controlled FCC, wrote on X that McMahon’s departure was “beyond alarming.”
“Independent journalists are being silenced simply because their reporting may threaten the ambitions of their corporate owners,” Gomez wrote. “It will only embolden an Administration hell-bent on censoring speech and controlling content.”
The-CNN-Wire
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