EXCLUSIVE: Bari Weiss 'Targeting' CNN Staffers Next — as CBS 'Murderer' Prepares to Overhaul Ratings-Starved Cable Network After Next MAGA-Friendly Merger
Bari Weiss could soon be bringing the same sweeping changes she implemented at CBS to CNN.
June 16 2026, Published 2:17 p.m. ET
Now that she has given CBS News an "anti-woke" makeover, Bari Weiss could be setting her sights on CNN, if David Ellison's next big merger with Warner Bros. Discovery is approved, RadarOnline.com can report.
And that means she could bring the same sweeping changes to the cable network newsroom that she implemented at CBS.
New Network, Who 'Dis
Weiss is in line to take over the reigns at CNN after the next mega merger is approved.
Fresh off his merger with Paramount and its subsidiaries, Ellison's Skydance Media group is waiting for approval of another takeover of WBD.
Insiders say that if it happens, Trump ally Ellison could put Weiss in charge there as well to "right" the left-leaning network. That could include an extreme staff makeover, much like her recent firings at 60 Minutes, topped off by the very public divorce with legendary CBS newsman Scott Pelley.
"If I'm a CNN employee right now, I'm watching what happened to Scott Pelley the way airline pilots watch a near-miss on another runway. You don't assume it's going to happen to you, but you'd be foolish not to study it," Mike Fahey, head of Fahey Communications, told Radar.
"Scott Pelley became the cautionary tale," he continued. "If one of the most respected journalists in America can suddenly find himself at odds with management, everyone else in the building starts asking the same question: 'Who's next?' That's the kind of anxiety that quietly changes a newsroom long before any official policy does."
This... Was CNN?
Paramount CEO David Ellison is a friend of Donald Trump.
Any changes to CNN, which regardless of its perceived political leanings is still a crucial source during breaking news, should give fans of the network reason to pay attention.
"When people turn on CNN during a hurricane, a terrorist attack, an election night, or a war, they're not looking for hot takes. They're looking for information," said Fahey. "The danger isn't that CNN suddenly turns into a completely different network overnight. The danger is death by a thousand cuts."
He added, "For better or worse, CNN owns breaking news. It's the network people instinctively turn to when something major happens. That's an incredibly valuable brand position, but it's also fragile. The fear isn't that CNN suddenly becomes CBS. The fear is that CNN slowly becomes a place where business strategy, political optics, and talent management begin competing with journalism itself."
Scott Pelley Goes Off
Legendary broadcaster Scott Pelley was fired after a blistering diatribe against the new leadership at CBS.
In what is now known as "Black Thursday," 60 Minutes executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were all shown the door in a dramatic housecleaning by Weiss.
She then announced the hiring of the show's new EP, Nick Bilton, later that same day.
Pelley went ballistic in Bilton's meet and greet with his new team on June 1, openly ripping into both the former Vanity Fair special correspondent and Weiss.
"She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job. The changes that she’s made at the Evening News have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?" Pelley raged at his new boss, while accusing Weiss of "murdering" 60 Minutes.
The 22-year show vet also scolded Bilton, "You will never be welcome here."
Pelley was "terminated with cause" the following day.
CNN Staffers' 'Horrific Mood'
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CNN staffers are on high alert for their jobs.
Staffers at CNN have been closely watching the CBS newsroom refurbishment play out, with many worried they'll soon be getting "Bari'd" as well.
"We are doomed," one staffer told Status, while another concurred: "We are f---ed. Everybody is reeling about the obvious things."
A separate CNN insider told Fox News Digital: "The mood is horrific. People are very upset."
