CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon announced her departure from the network on Monday, accompanied by a pointed statement that suggested dissatisfaction with the current state of the newsroom.
In a Monday memo to employees, McMahon, 50, disclosed her decision, subtly referencing President Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against the network concerning its interview with Kamala Harris.
The resignation was first reported by The New York Times, three months after insiders first said McMahon was set to lose her job.
‘It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,’ McMahon wrote in her memo.
‘It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.’
McMahon, along with former 60 Minutes leader Bill Owens, was against Shari Redstone’s plan—an heiress to CBS parent company Paramount—to resolve the ongoing lawsuit from the president.
The lawsuit claims that an October 60 Minutes interview with Harris was deceptively edited.
McMahon, whose less than two-year stint was plagued by poor ratings, called her tenure ‘one of the most meaningful chapters in my career.’
CBS News boss Wendy McMahon announced Monday she has quit the network
McMahon was one of the most powerful CBS execs who had been against the idea of settling a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump centered around an October interview with then Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on 60 Minutes
‘Leading this extraordinary organization has been the honor of a lifetime because I got to work alongside all of you,’ she wrote in the memo.
‘At the same time, the past few months have been challenging.’
The rest of the statement echoed one offered by Owens after his exit last month.
‘Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,’ he wrote at the time.
‘It’s clear the company is done with me,’ he tearfully added at a staff meeting earlier in the day.
Both Owens and McMahon suggested corporate overreach spurred their decisions, as the deadline for a proposed media merger between Paramount and Skydance approaches.
The Trump administration must approve the deal.
McMahon – who had tapped Owens to implement her vision of a two-host version of CBS Evenings – wrote of her next move: ‘It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.’
A settlement with the president appears to be the sticking point for the Skydance deal to go through – as it requires federal approval
McMahon was also behind the recent, two-host revamp of CBS Evenings, which was met with double digit declines within its first week of being implemented in February. Pictured, hosts Maurice Dubois and John Dickerson, who replaced Norah O’Donnell the month before
She added that she has spent the past several months ensuring ‘the right leaders are in place’, noting: ‘I have no doubt they will continue to set the standard.’
She singled out CBS News longtimers like Matt Naber and Robert Breen specifically, and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and CBS Stations President Jennifer Mitchell.
The latter two – whom had essentially been McMahon’s deputies – will now begin reporting directly to George Cheeks, the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Global, and President and CEO of CBS.
‘To George: Thank you for this opportunity,’ McMahon added.
‘To our viewers: Thank you for your trust. You hold us accountable, and you remind us why this work matters.’
The former ABC exec, who joined CBS News in 2021 to serve as ‘co-head’ of the station alongside also departed exec Neeraj Khemlani, thanked her colleagues ‘for your passion, your professionalism and your partnership.’
‘It has been a privilege to walk this path with you,’ she said.
Owens had said that McMahon was ‘fight[ing]’ for her team ‘week by week’ when it came convincing Paramount not to settle the president’s suit.
CBS News’s senior-most staffers – 60 Minutes boss Owens and news chief Wendy McMahon (pictured together in LA this past May) – are said to be unwilling to bow to Trump’s lawsuit, which alleges the station purposely edited the Harris interview to give her an edge
McMahon and Khemlani – who resigned in 2023 after two years – had been meant to replace Susan Zirinsky, a veteran producer forced out of retirement a few months ago more than 50 years after joining struggling CBS News in 1972.
This was also was the case with Adrienne Roark, McMahon’s former deputy who resigned in February after just seven months in the position, following what a former CBS exec told DailyMail.com was a falling out with McMahon.
Roark’s resignation came weeks after McMahon enlisted Owens help to spearhead a more magazine-style, less headline-driven format noticeably different from the network’s evening news offering.
It immediately caused a ratings slump that showrunners have yet to rectify – with ‘CBS Evening News’ total average viewers down 14 percent for the year.
For the all-important 25-54 demographic, the drop-off is even worse: 22 percent less than the same period in 2024.
McMahon, meanwhile, was also said to have had a falling out with her prospective boss at Skydance, Jeff Shell, according to a February report from Status.
That same month, insiders told Puck News that McMahon’s days at the network were numbered, and that she would not be with the company if the Skydance deal went through.
Redstone, daughter of the late media magnate Sumner Redstone and the person effectively in control of Paramount, has said she wants to resolve a suit filed by the president over 60 Minutes’ October interview with Kamala Harris
Insiders at the time told DailyMail.com that neither McMahon nor Roark ‘[had] the editorial experience of leading a national news organizations.’
‘Especially… during an election year,’ they added.
Trump’s suit – which names both CBS News and Paramount as defendants – accuses 60 Minutes of selecting a more coherent answer from Harris to help with her presidential candidacy.
CBS News has maintained Harris had merely given a lengthy answer, which was then cut down due to time constraints.
