Anderson Cooper is banding together with the rest of CBS News' 60 Minutes in solidarity for Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of the newsmagazine show.
Bill announced last week to the news team that he was resigning from the program after 40 years with CBS and more than two decades leading 60 Minutes due to pressure from the higher ups at parent network Paramount concerning the government.
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The show addressed his departure with a stern call out of his reasons for leaving through a note from correspondent Scott Pelley on the air, watch it below…
The clip was shared on social media by the show's official page plus correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, Jon Wertheim, Cecilia Vega and Anderson himself.
Bill's final memo
The New York Times shared insights from the emotional staff meeting on April 22 when Bill told his team that he would be resigning, citing his reasons in a memo.
"Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for '60 Minutes,' right for the audience," it read.
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"So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward."
Reasons for his departure
CBS News is dealing indirectly with the current administration run by President Donald Trump, stemming from his $10 billion lawsuit against the network for "unlawful and illegal behavior" over an allegedly manipulative edit for an interview with former VP Kamala Harris airing back in October.
Parent company Paramount's leading shareholder Shari Redstone is reportedly trying to seek favor with the administration to approve a multi-billion dollar sale of the company to Skydance, thereby seeking an end to the lawsuit via a settlement agreement.
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The publication reports that Bill addressed his emotional 60 Minutes team at a private meeting in their headquarters, including a tearful Lesley Stahl, Scott plus Anderson, who'd called in from Rome while covering the death of Pope Francis.
Final meeting at CBS HQ
The dad-of-two has been a 60 Minutes correspondent since 2007, following being named the host of Anderson Cooper 360 on the network back in 2003. He is still in Italy covering the funeral of the late head of the Catholic Church for CNN.
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"It's clear the company is done with me," Bill told his staff, per the publication. "In a million years, the corporation didn't know what was coming up — they trusted '60 Minutes' to report the stories and program the broadcast the way '60 Minutes' saw fit," deeming any change to it a "slippery slope."
Shake ups at CBS
He added: "I do think this will be a moment for the corporation to take a hard look at itself and its relationship with us."
© CBS via Getty Images
Fellow veteran 60 Minutes producer Rome Hartman told NYT: "We all find it profoundly disturbing. If the people that run Paramount and CBS think they can run '60 Minutes' better than Bill Owens has run it, they're wrong."
