{"id":15975,"date":"2026-07-24T18:48:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=15975"},"modified":"2026-07-24T18:48:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:48:39","slug":"bari-weiss-pushed-60-minutes-to-report-on-events-that-never-happened-cecilia-vega-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=15975","title":{"rendered":"Bari Weiss Pushed 60 Minutes to Report on Events &#8216;That Never Happened,&#8217; Cecilia Vega Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/cecilia-vega\/\" id=\"auto-tag_cecilia-vega\" data-tag=\"cecilia-vega\">Cecilia Vega<\/a>, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/60-minutes-shake-up-cbs-news-ousts-producer-tanya-simon-1236761176\/\">fired as a correspondent from CBS News\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d<\/a> in a major shake-up three months ago, is speaking out about her experience at the TV newsmagazine under <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/bari-weiss\/\" id=\"auto-tag_bari-weiss\" data-tag=\"bari-weiss\">Bari Weiss<\/a>\u2018 leadership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tVega said the \u201cnew administration\u201d at <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/cbs-news\/\" id=\"auto-tag_cbs-news\" data-tag=\"cbs-news\">CBS News<\/a> \u2014 indicating Weiss, whom Paramount installed as editor in chief of the division last fall \u2014 asked her to report on events that \u201cnever happened\u201d and had pushed her and her team to include claims in stories that they were unable to verify. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tVega made the comments in a discussion Thursday with ABC News correspondent John Qui\u00f1ones at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference &amp; Expo in New Orleans. Her remarks were first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.status.news\/p\/cecilia-vega-cbs-60-minutes-bari-weiss\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">reported by Status<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tDiscussing her coverage following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, Vega said she was encouraged to include video of protesters assaulting people they believed were undercover ICE agents. According to Vega, her team searched for evidence but found \u201cno credible examples\u201d of such incidents. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tVega offered examples of CBS News management attempting to interfere with her stories. Following the January 2026 killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents, Vega claimed she was urged to use footage of protesters attacking civilians they thought were officers in everyday clothes. Vega noted she and her team were unable to find \u201ccredible examples\u201d of that happening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn addition, Vega said she was asked to include an excerpt from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stating in a press conference that he wanted the police to fight ICE agents enforcing immigration policies. According to Vega, her team watched \u201cevery frame\u201d of the footage and did not find the moment in question. \u201cThat never happened,\u201d Vega said. \u201cWe could not find any instance of the mayor saying something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tVega cited another example said she intentionally focused a story about SNAP benefit cuts in West Virginia on residents affected by the policy, only to be questioned about why she had not interviewed Vice President JD Vance or referenced his memoir \u201cHillbilly Elegy,\u201d despite the book centering on his upbringing in Ohio rather than West Virginia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tVega did not explicitly name Weiss as having personally made the requests, she pointed to changes under the network\u2019s \u201cnew administration at CBS News,\u201d saying things \u201cstarted to change when new people started showing up in the screenings and giving their feedback on pieces.\u201d Said Vega: \u201cNever in my career until now have I felt that those edits, those suggestions, came from a place of misinformation or politics. That\u2019s the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAsked for comment, a CBS News representative cited a statement it issued in May in the wake of <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/cecilia-vega-ousted-60-minutes-fears-future-cbs-news-1236761708\/\">Vega\u2019s comments after her firing<\/a>, in which she claimed that \u201cmy producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories.\u201d In that statement, CBS News said, \u201cWe respect Ms. Vega and her contributions, but her claims are not based in reality.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn addition, the network spokesperson pointed to a comment Weiss made in June, in which she said, \u201cWhat\u2019s being called \u2018editorial interference\u2019 is in reality the job description of an editor in chief.\u201d CBS News also noted that none of the examples Vega cited were incorporated into any report that was aired or published.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tDuring her talk at the NAHJ conference, Vega also said she still doesn\u2019t know why she was fired from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/60-minutes\/\" id=\"auto-tag_60-minutes\" data-tag=\"60-minutes\">60 Minutes<\/a>,\u201d saying, \u201cI still have not been given a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tVega told Qui\u00f1ones that she had been scared to discuss her departure from \u201c60 Minutes\u201d but said, \u201cIt\u2019s not that I just lost a job. There is a lot at stake. Sometimes you\u2019ve got to be scared and do it still.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cecilia Vega, who was fired as a correspondent from CBS News\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d in a major shake-up three months ago, is speaking out about her experience at the TV newsmagazine under Bari Weiss\u2018 leadership. Vega said the \u201cnew administration\u201d at CBS News \u2014 indicating Weiss, whom Paramount installed as editor in chief of the division&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2187869221.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}