A growing revolt has taken hold inside 60 Minutes after journalists accused network leadership of blocking a completed investigation into the Trump administration’s deportation program, a move staffers say crossed a line and has sparked open talk of resignations.
The dispute centers on a report by veteran correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi examining Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to CECOT, a notorious maximum-security prison in El Salvador. The segment, titled Inside CECOT, had been in development for weeks and, according to newsroom accounts, had already passed every internal checkpoint before it was abruptly pulled just hours before broadcast.
The fallout was exposed late Sunday when CNN media analyst Brian Stelter reported that staff inside the program were threatening to leave their jobs in protest. “Inside 60 Minutes, where journalistic independence is sacrosanct, people are threatening to quit over this,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, after President Donald Trump publicly attacked 60 Minutes for airing an interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene, which some correspondents believe led to a shift. According to a source at the program, Bari Weiss, CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, began getting personally involved in political coverage.
Weiss, who reports directly to Paramount CEO David Ellison, made the decision to shelve Alfonsi’s CECOT report, arguing that the story was “not ready.” In a statement, she said she looked forward to airing the piece once additional reporting was completed.
In an internal memo circulated to colleagues, Alfonsi wrote that “the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship.” Per CNN, she detailed the review process, noting that the segment had been screened five times, cleared by CBS attorneys, approved by Standards and Practices, and deemed factually accurate.
By Friday, the staff believed the story was locked. Alfonsi taped her introduction. Executive producer Tanya Simon approved promotional listings. CBS News sent out the usual advance notice that signals a 60 Minutes segment is ready for air.
According to two CBS sources, Weiss sent new notes that morning. One issue involved the lack of an on-camera response from the Trump administration. Another involved objections to the phrase “migrant detainees.” By that point, Alfonsi had already flown back to Texas, and producers believed the editorial process had already run its course.
New: See the memo Bari Weiss sent to some 60 Minutes staff on Sunday: pic.twitter.com/3ERieIGXLh
— Isabella Simonetti (@thesimonetti) December 22, 2025
Alfonsi and her producer, Oriana Zill de Granados, requested a call to discuss the decision. They say that the call never happened, and by Sunday, only hours before airtime, the segment was officially replaced with another report. CBS later said Inside CECOT would air at a future date.
Staffers sent Alfonsi messages expressing disbelief and others were stunned when her memo circulated internally. The moment represented the changes in CBS that many feared would come under Paramount’s ownership change.
Weiss’s appointment as the new editor followed the Paramount–Skydance merger when they purchased her publication, The Free Press, for $150 million. Some journalists had already questioned her lack of television experience and her insistence that the story include an interview with White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key figure behind the deportation policy the segment examined.
Alfonsi wrote that her team did request comment from the administration and that its refusal should not become grounds to kill a story. Allowing that standard, she warned, would hand officials veto power over coverage they dislike.
Weiss defended her decision again during Monday’s editorial call, telling staff that her priority was the audience and that 60 Minutes must meet the highest bar. Still, the anger inside the newsroom has not cooled.
“People are threatening to quit over this,” one CBS source said.
