Bari Weiss Wants to Dump Gayle King’s $15M Salary — CBS Mornings Host Weighing Her Options: Report

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CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is reportedly looking for ways to offload the salary of morning host Gayle King amid continued restructuring of the network.

News of the move came in a Tuesday morning report from Variety detailing the “dysfunction” within CBS News since Weiss’s arrival. The new editor-in-chief has faced intense scrutiny over a handful of editorial decisions, with the most notable being the last-second choice to delay a 60 Minutes report about the Salvadoran prison CECOT.

There was also Weiss’s town hall with Erika Kirk, the widow of slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Despite being heavily promoted across CBS channels, the event turned out to be a ratings disappointment.

According to Variety, she may soon turn her attention to the network’s morning programming. The report continued:

By some accounts, Weiss is only getting started. She may be getting ready to focus on “CBS Mornings,” mindful that host Gayle King’s salary — valued at around $15 million a year, according to one person familiar with the network — is no longer viable in a weaker media economy. King is said to be considering various options, including a special correspondent role that would have her making appearances on CBS News properties but not being a regular host, or another that might keep her on the air for another year but at a lower salary, giving her 12 full months to bid farewell to viewers.

This past Sunday, 60 Minutes finally aired the CECOT segment. Despite Weiss’s insistence that the decision was due to a lack of input from the Trump administration, the report was broadcast without that additional input. According to 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, the administration declined multiple interview requests. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security chose to refer all questions to CECOT and El Salvador’s authoritarian government.

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