Axed '60 Minutes' Correspondent Who Clashed With Right-Leaning Boss Bari Weiss Releases Scathing Statement Slamming Network
After sparring with new boss Bari Weiss, Sharyn Alfonsi has found herself out at '60 Minutes.'
May 27 2026, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
Sharyn Alfonsi is officially done at 60 Minutes, RadarOnline.com can report, but not before giving the once venerable newsmagazine, now under the leadership of "anti-woke" Bari Weiss, a scathing piece of her mind.
Now, there are fears she may have talked her way out of CBS entirely.
Sharyn Alfonsi Bashes CBS
Sharyn Alfonsi left a scathing statement behind after her contract ended.
Alfonsi, who has worked on 60 Minutes since 2015, saw her contract come to an end earlier this month, and network executives have reportedly made no effort to contact her or her agents to discuss a renewal.
The journalist's story about the Trump administration deporting Venezuelan men to a prison in El Salvador was famously pulled from the air moments before it was scheduled to be broadcast, in what many believed was Weiss catering to the president.
Alfonsi's relationship with the network has been shaky ever since, and she held little back in blasting her bosses on the way out the door.
"Repeated attempts by my representation to establish a path forward were met with absolute silence from network executives," Alfonsi said in a statement. "The message could not be clearer: my time at 60 Minutes is apparently over."
'A Chilling Message to the Entire Newsroom'
She was especially critical of the news product under the new leadership of Weiss.
The bitter broadcaster then let loose on the Weiss regime, criticizing the widespread and immediate changes at CBS that have been met with utter rejection from viewers.
"In the coming days, network leadership may attempt to hide behind corporate euphemisms like 'modernization' and 'restructuring' to explain away my departure," she stated. "Don’t be misled. This was not a routine corporate transition; it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting, and it sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom."
She continued: "There’s a feeling that the wall has come down between editorial independence and corporate interests. The concern is we're going to end up with a broadcast that looks like 60 Minutes but doesn’t have the courage or the character to produce 60 Minutes journalism that actually matters."
Alfonsi will still be paid by CBS News as an at-will employee, according to Variety, but she will no longer have a place at 60 Minutes and will not be able to update her pieces or start reporting on stories for next season.
Her producers are believed to have already been reassigned.
Sharyn Alfonsi Had Deja Vu
Alfonsi can still work for CBS News at large... for now.
Alfonsi predicted the writing was on the wall earlier this month, soon after lashing out at Weiss and Paramount Skydance owner David Ellison while giving a speech to peers.
"Sometimes the truth isn't good for business, and sometimes you will be shown the door just for telling it," she told the audience while receiving the Ridenhour Courage Prize at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Alfonsi continued, "Today, that same kind of 'corporate calculation' is happening in newsrooms across the country. Some executives are not asking, 'Is the story true?' They’re asking, 'Is it good for business?'"
Bari Weiss Defends Her Decision
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Weiss defended her decision to pull the '60 Minutes' piece.
Weiss explained her decision to pull the CECOT piece in December 2025, stating, "My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be."
She continued, "Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices – happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready."
Alfonsi fired back in a lengthy statement, claiming she went ahead with the story after not getting responses back from the administration.
"If the standard for airing a story becomes 'the government must agree to be interviewed,' then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state," she fumed.
Alfonsi went on to rage that "the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of 'Gold Standard' reputation for a single week of political quiet."
