Tanya Simon, the daughter of the late 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon, has been executive-producing the newsmagazine show on an interim basis since Bill Owens’ shocking resignation. The current crop of 60 Minutes correspondents have been lobbying Paramount Global to make it official.
On Friday, Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter reported that Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Bill Whitaker, Anderson Cooper, Sharyn Alfonsi, Jon Wertheim and Cecilia Vega — the whole gang of 60 Minutes correspondents — collectively wrote and signed a letter in May urging Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks to officially name Simon as the show’s executive producer.
Owens resigned as 60 Minutes EP in April in protest of what he believed to be a dwindling ability to independently control the show’s editorial positions. In other words, Paramount corporate was getting in the way of their reporting. Owens’ boss Wendy McMahon resigned as head of CBS News in May, citing similar reasons as Owens.
Specifically, Owens and McMahon have taken issue with the way in which Paramount Global and its controlling company National Amusements Inc. (NAI) have handled a lawsuit by Donald Trump alleging 60 Minutes showed preferential treatment to his 2024 presidential-election opponent Kamala Harris.
Paramount is in the final throes of a merger with Skydance, which requires federal regulatory approval. Shari Redstone controls Paramount Global — and thus has the final vote on any M&A activity — through her ownership of NAI.
Tanya Simon began her career at 60 Minutes 1999 as an associate producer. She is beloved internally, not only because of the familial connection, but because of the respect she has earned over her 25-plus years at the newsmagazine.
One staffer told the Status, “The next E.P. has to be Tanya. There will be a revolt if it’s not her.”
Internally at 60 Minutes, staffers are already beginning to fret about the show’s future under the new ownership, specifically whether the independence from the rest of CBS News that the show has historically enjoyed will continue, or if Skydance will have a heavier hand in directing the show’s structure. Status reported earlier this week that Skydance chief David Ellison approached Bari Weiss to see if she was interested in a role at CBS post-merger.
The Hollywood Reporter has not seen the reported letter; a spokesperson for 60 Minutes/CBS News did not immediately respond to our request for comment. A separate spokesperson for Paramount Global declined comment on this story.
A spokesperson for Redstone did not immediately respond to our request for comment.