Head Of ’60 Minutes’ Announces Exit, Cites Alleged Loss Of Independence

The executive producer of CBS’s “60 Minutes” is leaving his role, citing a loss of journalistic independence, according to The New York Times.

“Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,” Bill Owens wrote in a statement to the show’s staff, according to the Times.

Owens also said he did not believe he would be able to make “independent decisions” any longer.

Bill Owens’s full memo to “60 Minutes” staff: pic.twitter.com/tHQvAajVRm

— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) April 22, 2025

Owens, the show’s third ever executive producer, was with CBS for over 37 years.

His departure comes amid a time of great turmoil for CBS and its parent company, Paramount.

President Donald Trump is suing the network for $10 billion, arguing they engaged in “deliberate deception” in their editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. (RELATED: CBS Aired Ride Along With German Police On Anti-Free Speech Raid Hours After Saying Free Speech Led To Nazis)

The network is reportedly seeking to settle that suit as Paramount plans to merge with entertainment conglomerate Skydance Media. Owens had been obstinate in the face of that lawsuit, telling staff he would not apologize to Trump, according to the Times.

While Owens’ pined for more independence, past examples of malfeasance at his network demonstrate that the show’s autonomy may have been a double-edged sword.

CBS fired Owens’ predecessor, Jeff Fager, in 2018 for sexual misconduct. CBS investigators said that his misconduct was less severe than that of “60 Minutes” founder and original executive producer Don Hewitt.

A draft report from those investigators found that “the physical, administrative and cultural separation between ’60 Minutes’ and the rest of CBS News permitted misconduct by some ’60 Minutes’ employees,” according to the Times.

CBS has agreed to pay one woman who accused Hewitt of sexual assault over $5 million, the Times reported.

The network’s powerful former head, Les Moonves, also resigned in 2018 after multiple women accused him of sexual assault.