Bill Owens Bids Farewell to ’60 Minutes’ After 37 Years

It was a Tuesday filled with emotion inside CBS News headquarters — the kind you don’t usually see behind the scenes of the legendary 60 Minutes. After nearly four decades of shaping one of America’s most trusted news programs, Executive Producer Bill Owens announced his departure.

Owens, who became only the third person in history to lead 60 Minutes, didn’t name names in his public note, but the elephant in the newsroom couldn’t be ignored. A high-stakes lawsuit from President Donald Trump over an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, growing tension with corporate higher-ups, and questions about editorial control all hovered in the background.

In a heartfelt message to his team, Owens said the core of his decision was simple: “I could no longer run the show the way I’ve always done — with independence, integrity, and in service of our audience.”

Insiders shared that the final straw came when he felt he’d lost the ability to shield the show from outside influence, especially as Paramount Global, CBS’ parent company, navigates a possible sale to David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison — a known Trump ally.

It’s the end of an era at 60 Minutes, not just because Owens is leaving, but because his departure signals a deeper struggle between journalism’s values and corporate-political entanglements.

As one colleague put it, “He wasn’t just stepping down. He was making a statement.”