Key points
- I would not be allowed to run show independently: Bill Owens
- Trump has sued “60 Minutes” for $20 billion
- Show has covered US politics, wars, and consumer scandals since 1968
ISLAMABAD: The executive producer of “60 Minutes”, the storied US primetime current affairs show, resigned Tuesday, blaming attacks on his independence in recent months as President Donald Trump has waged a legal battle against the program.
The jewel in the crown of CBS News, owned by Paramount, the show has covered US politics, wars, and consumer scandals since its first broadcast in 1968, but is now embroiled in a messy row with the president, AFP reported.
“Over the past months, it has also 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,” AFP cited Bill Owens’s as saying.
10 million viewers
“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.”
According to Associated Press, US President Donald Trump has sued “60 Minutes” for $20 billion last fall, claiming it deceptively edited an interview with his Democratic election opponent Kamala Harris.
However, CBS rejected it had done anything to give an advantage to Harris, and released the full transcript of its interview, AP reported.
The show, which pulls around 10 million viewers weekly, is a leading target of Trump’s offensive against the media, according to AFP.
