‘60 Minutes’ executive producer Bill Owens resigns

Bill Owens, the beleaguered executive producer of “60 Minutes,” resigned Tuesday.

Owens had been fighting efforts at CBS parent Paramount Global to settle a $20-billion lawsuit filed by President Trump regarding the network’s October interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump alleges the program was deceptively edited to favor Harris.

Owens’ departure could be a sign that a settlement is forthcoming. Paramount Global executives see the suit as an obstacle to getting approval of a merger agreement with David Ellison’s Skydance Media. Trump and Paramount recently agreed on a mediator to assist with the process.

“Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,” Owens wrote in a message obtained by The Times. “To make independent decisions based on what’s 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.”

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Owens worked at CBS News for 37 years. He is only the third executive producer in the 57-year history of “60 Minutes,” following Jeff Fager and the show’s founding showrunner, Don Hewitt.

Owens also oversees “CBS Evening News,” which has been in a ratings tailspin since it overhauled its format in January, replacing Norah O’Donnell with the anchor duo of Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson.

Owens spent 24 years on “60 Minutes.” He took the executive producer reins from Fager, who was fired in 2018 after he sent a harsh text to a CBS News correspondent covering sexual harassment allegations against him. Owens maintained the newsmagazine’s status as the most-watched news program on TV. “60 Minutes” typically has the largest audience on television outside of live sports telecasts.

In his message to staff, Owens had kind parting words for Wendy McMahon, the CBS executive overseeing news and TV stations, saying she “has always had our back.”

McMahon said in a memo that Owens will be at the network for the next few weeks. She did not name a successor, but a likely candidate is Tanya Simon, the program’s executive editor and the daughter of one of its best-known correspondents, the late Bob Simon.

Owens offered encouragement for the program’s mission to live on.

“The show is too important to the country, it has to continue, just not with me as executive producer,” he wrote in his note to staff. “’60 Minutes’ will continue to cover the new administration, as we will report on future administrations. We will report from war zones, investigate injustices and educate our audience.”

“60 Minutes” has enough veteran staff members with the institutional knowledge to maintain the show’s journalistic rigor. But a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit would be a gut punch to a news division already feeling adrift amid the uncertainty about the network’s future.

Trump and other conservatives targeted CBS after it was revealed that “60 Minutes” producers had edited Harris’ jumbled response to a question about the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. CBS News aired a portion of her response in a preview that aired on “Face the Nation,” but ran a more succinct part of her answer in the final edit that appeared on “60 Minutes.”

Trump chose not to sit for an interview on the same broadcast. His campaign opposed the condition set by CBS News that his responses would be fact-checked.

First Amendment experts have called Trump’s case frivolous. Journalism organizations commonly edit interviews for brevity and clarity. Nevertheless, Trump has demanded significant financial renumeration to settle the case. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has also launched an investigation of CBS News regarding the program.