Veteran 60 Minutes producer Henry Schuster has left the program after nearly two decades, announcing his departure with a verbal jab at CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Schuster accepted a buyout, writing on LinkedIn that “it was time for a change.”
Schuster’s departure and farewell message
Schuster, who joined 60 Minutes in 2007 after working at CNN since the early 1980s, wrote on LinkedIn: “It has been a great run at 60 MINUTES and what I got to do there was extraordinary. But I have been thinking about leaving for a while now and when the opportunity presented itself in February, I took it. And finally, it is official.”
In a farewell message to colleagues, Schuster revealed he had informed then-executive producer Tanya Simon in February that he needed a break. “She could not have been more helpful, only asking if I would stay through the end of the season,” he wrote, as reported by the New York Post citing a Guardian report.
Departure ‘overshadowed by forced departures’
Schuster emphasized that his exit was not related to the recent upheaval inside the storied newsroom but had been “overshadowed by the forced departures of so many colleagues and friends at the broadcast.” The upheaval followed Skydance Media CEO David Ellison’s $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, last year. Ellison is a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Weiss took over as editor-in-chief of CBS News in October after Paramount acquired her media company, The Free Press. In May, Weiss fired executive producer Tanya Simon, correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, senior executive producer Draggan Mihailovich, veteran producer Guy Campanile, and staffer Matthew Polevoy. Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley was later fired after 37 years following a confrontation with new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton. Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” the news magazine by forcing a more conservative editorial stance.
Remaining correspondents and Anderson Cooper’s exit
The remaining correspondents — Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim — criticized management’s handling of the forced departures but said they would stay on. Earlier in May, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper announced he was signing off from 60 Minutes after two decades, not renewing his contract in February to spend more time with his children.
What’s next for Schuster
Schuster said on LinkedIn he is not retiring but will take a “bit of a break” before deciding his next move, ruling out starting a podcast or a Substack. “Maybe I will finally get my high school diploma, or see if I have another book in me. Or maybe something else…,” he wrote.
