Gayle King is out at “CBS Mornings.”
Inarguably the highest profile African American journalist in the US, King has been told by Paramount Skydance that her contract with the CBS News show won’t be extended after it ends in May.
The news was reported by Variety.
King’s ouster comes on the heels of massive layoff at Paramount and CBS yesterday that removed a large number of Black and female employees. At CBS, the Race and Culture tea was terminated, for example.
Among those cut at Paramount Pictures were Bryan Oh, who is Asian; Andres Alvarez (EVP of Home Entertainment), Christine Benitez (SVP Multicultural Marketing); and Rachel Cadden.
King’s departure from CBS News is another indication that David Ellison, CBS’s new owner and a conservative with ties to Donald Trump, is about to gut the Tiffany network and model it anew after Fox News.
Said to be on the chopping block: Maurice DuBois at CBS Evening News, and Bill Whittaker at 60 Minutes. DuBois’s anchor partner, John Dickerson, has already been ousted this week.
King pulled the long moribund CBS Morning News into a hot commodity, bringing huge amounts of goodwill and publicity to the network. Her scoops were many and varied, and through her CBS had access to her popular and respected friend, Oprah Winfrey, who did freelance work for 60 Minutes and CBS Mornings.
Also out are the co-anchors of “CBS Saturday Mornings,” Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson, and Joelle Martinez, its Los Angeles bureau chief. They’re also shutting down their Johannesburg, South Africa office and firing senior foreign correspondent Deborah Patta.
King could write her own ticket in syndication with a much welcomed daily talk show. She has many options available to her.
King’s unceremonious exit also follows the news that CBS hasn’t renewed popular late night host Stephen Colbert, who is a constant critic of Trump.
Will Ellison — whose father is in business ventures with Trump — destroy the fabled network? Will he restructure Paramount Pictures into something unrecognizable? Stay tuned…
