As CBS News undergoes a regime change under new leadership at Paramount, John Oliver is alarmed by the new hire.
With the buyout of David Ellison and the subsequent appointment of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News, the comedian used the Sunday paper Last week tonight to denounce his questionable track record of opinion articles in The New York Times and his own media outlet, The Free Press, as well as his outspoken stance against DEI.
“The truth is, we wouldn’t have even done this story if it weren’t for the fact that Bari Weiss was just named editor-in-chief of CBS News, and this feels different,” he noted at the end of Sunday’s episode. “Because there are many opinion media, from left to right, and with low or high editorial standards.
“This show is, among other things, an opinion media outlet, and while our staff works incredibly hard to research articles before we write something and vigorously check our facts afterward. We’re not the news either, and I wouldn’t want anyone running a pure opinion media outlet, not even one I agree with, to suddenly be running CBS News.”
Oliver added: “But it’s particularly alarming to see someone do this after spending years doing work that, in my opinion, is at best irresponsible and, at worst, deeply misleading.”
Noting that Ellison is also preparing a bid for CNN and HBO as part of a potential merger with Warner Bros. Discovery “isn’t ideal” for his own show, Oliver added: “Although, I have to say, if what he likes about Bari is that she forces him to have difficult conversations, to get a little uncomfortable, maybe he’ll like that.”
Deadline reported last week that Paramount had purchased The Free Press, making its founder head of CBS News.
