In the summer of 2021, the producers of “The View” cast a wide net to find their token conservative co-host after Meghan McCain’s exit. Bari Weiss — who had guest-hosted a few episodes of the panel show and was making waves with her just-launched news outlet The Free Press — wanted the job, and her then-CAA agents lobbied hard. But Weiss didn’t test well with audiences, who didn’t understand her centrist-right contrarian politics. In fact, her focus group scores were so low that she wasn’t invited back to guest host, according to insiders. Instead, Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump White House director of strategic communications, landed the gig.
The rejection turned out to be a blessing for Weiss. Instead of playing sixth fiddle on a show consumed by middle-class Resistance moms, the 41-year-old mother of two is now one of the most powerful women in news. On Oct. 6, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison announced that the media conglomerate had acquired The Free Press — the price tag is reportedly $150 million — and named Weiss editor-in-chief of CBS News, where she will oversee a sprawling operation despite having no broadcast news experience. If Ellison and his father, tech mogul Larry Ellison, get their wish and buy Warner Bros. as well, the former New York Times opinion writer and editor — who rode the wave of anti-woke sentiment during the Biden administration and positioned herself as a billionaire whisperer — may also have CNN as part of her fiefdom.
Naturally, a broad swath of staffers at CBS News are aghast. The under-35 pro-Palestinian set bristle at Weiss’ vocal support of Israel. Older news veterans see her coronation as part of the Ellisons’ ongoing capitulation to Trump, which began when CBS News settled a defamation lawsuit with the president for $16 million so that the Federal Communications Commission would approve the Paramount-Skydance merger. (Larry Ellison is a regular at the White House and Mar-a-Lago.) But Weiss is far from beloved by the upper reaches of MAGA world. One high-profile conservative scoffed at the idea of Weiss being one of them, noting that the White House continues to deny The Free Press credentials.
Still, Weiss has a strong desire to be in front of the camera. Sources say she discussed having an on-camera role, although not with “60 Minutes,” during negotiations. Weiss and Ellison both declined to comment for this story.
“She plays to an audience of 200 people,” says one Hollywood executive with ties to Weiss. “It just happens to be that audience is made up of people like Jeff Bezos and Bill Ackman. The superrich fucking love her. She’s funny, she’s smart and she’s aligned with their politics.”
Former colleagues are mixed in their assessment of Weiss.
“Bari is a thoughtful and creative leader who is deeply committed to journalism’s historic ideals: honesty, doggedness and fierce independence,” says Alex Chitty, who worked with Weiss at The Free Press. “Any journalistic institution would be lucky to have her in charge.”
But another former colleague is unimpressed with her pivot.
“She’s just gaming the system, with billionaires funding her career,” says the colleague, who worked with Weiss during her New York Times days. “She’s never worked in a newsroom traditionally in the way that she’s going to. It just feels like cheating.”
Paul Friedman, a former top executive at both ABC News and CBS News, says his onetime colleagues at the latter are “terrified” about the prospect of Weiss’ reign.
“She’s been extremely outspoken about her views. She said some things that I can’t conceive of somebody running a news division saying out loud,” Friedman says. “We can only hope she means what she’s said about wanting to ensure fair and balanced journalism. But there’s very little reason to hope for that, based on her record and on Paramount’s behavior in settling a spurious suit against CBS News and diminishing ‘60 Minutes.’”
Some insiders were horrified by a different kind of bias at CBS News before Weiss’ arrival, noting the treatment of “CBS Mornings” anchor Tony Dokoupil. Senior network executives rebuked Dokoupil in front of staff over an interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates, accusing him of not adhering to the network’s editorial norms. The incident likely would not have surfaced publicly had The Free Press not obtained and published parts of the audio from the internal meeting.
“The Tony incident is exactly why someone like Bari was brought in,” says one rep with several CBS News clients.
Some have suggested that the Ellisons overpaid for The Free Press. But one year ago, the outlet was valued at $100 million following a $15 million funding round. While many of the backers remain anonymous, known investors include Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Paul Marshall, Howard Schultz and Allen & Co.
Whether Weiss is hobnobbing in Sun Valley or flying private, friends say she projects an air of belonging. She attended Bezos’ wedding and counts Bill Maher and Kim Kardashian among her friends.
“She’s crazily charismatic. She generally doesn’t bring up politics very much when you talk to her interpersonally,” says the Hollywood executive. “[But Paramount now] has a political agenda. It feels like it’s even more the case than Fox under Rupert Murdoch did.”
Last year, Weiss uprooted from Los Angeles with her wife, New York Times alum Nellie Bowles, and their kids to New York. As her visibility grew, so did The Free Press’ team of WME reps, which includes agency president Ari Greenburg. (WME did not, however, have any role in Weiss’ CBS News deal.) Weiss began pulling down as much as $150,000 per engagement, a point of contention in the pro-Israel space, where advocates give speeches for free.
“Clearly she’s brilliant if she’s gotten herself to this place,” says the former colleague. “But everything is transactional with Bari.”
Brent Lang contributed to this report.
