'60 Minutes' in Chaos: New CBS News Boss Stuns Crew Members After Asking Controversial Question About 'Being Biased' — 'They Felt Blindsided and Humiliated'
Weiss is shaking things up at CBS News, including '60 Minutes.'
Oct. 21 2025, Published 4:01 p.m. ET
New CBS News boss Bari Weiss left all but one of the stars of 60 Minutes on the verge of a "revolt" after she reportedly questioned why they left objectivity behind in favor of a left-leaning bent, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Weiss, 41, was brought aboard the network for her moderate and centrist views and is trying to right the ship after the news magazine faced battering accusations of favoring Democrats and going out of its way to make President Donald Trump look bad.
'Blindsided and Humiliated'
Longtime '60 Minutes' vet Stahl has been with the show since 1991.
Weiss reportedly called a meeting of the 60 Minutes staff on October 14 and asked, "Why does the country think you’re biased?" leaving them stunned.
"It was basically a revolt," a show source told Hollywood insider Rob Shuter, who writes on Substack.
"They felt blindsided and humiliated and wanted to hit back."
Shuter reported the insider claimed correspondents Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega, Bill Whitaker, and Jon Wertheim openly complained about Weiss’s "outsider arrogance."
"They think she’s questioning their integrity — and their legacy," another staffer huffed.
'Time to Listen'
Cooper pulls double duty between CNN and '60 Minutes.'
One prominent staffer trying to remain above the fracas is Anderson Cooper, who fears for the show's future if they stay on the current liberal-leaning course.
"Anderson wanted no part of it," a CBS source revealed to Shuter. "He told colleagues this wasn’t the time to circle the wagons — it was time to listen."
"He knows public trust is fading," a producer added about the CNN star. "And he’s protecting himself, not the bureaucracy."
A CNN rep countered the CBS insider, exclusively telling RadarOnline.com that Cooper wasn't present for the meeting and hasn't discussed it with any of his 60 Minutes colleagues.
'Balanced and Fact-Based' Journalism
Weiss was brought aboard to bring a more balanced aspect to left-leaning CBS News.
Weiss is a former New York Times opinion page writer who left the paper in July 2020 after claiming it was an "illiberal environment" that caused her to be the subject of "constant bullying."
She started a popular Substack that led to her launching the online media company The Free Press.
David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Paramount, made it clear in Weiss' October 6 hiring announcement that she was being brought aboard to regain viewers' trust in the CBS News brand.
"We believe the majority of the country longs for news that is balanced and fact-based, and we want CBS to be their home," Ellison said about Weiss's primary initiative, calling her a "proven champion of independent, principled journalism."
Huge Payout to Trump
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Trump sucessfully sued over a '60 Minutes' interview with his 2024 presidential opponent Harris.
CBS and its parent company, Paramount Global, famously agreed to pay Trump $16 million in August to settle a lawsuit over 60 Minutes allegedly editing an interview with his Democrat opponent, Kamala Harris, to make her answers seem more coherent.
Trump initially sued for $10 billion in damages, claiming "deceptive conduct" by the network in the October 2024 interview between Whittaker, 74, and Harris, 61, in the days leading up to the presidential election.
The tycoon's team filed the suit due to "CBS’s partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public," in their complaint.
The lawsuit accused CBS of attempting to "tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion."
Trump emerged victorious the following month, securing his second term as president.
On October 21, a CNN rep exclusively told us Cooper wasn't present for the meeting and hasn't discussed it with any of his 60 Minutes colleagues.
