CBS Correspondent Reflects on Media’s Coverage of Avenatti After Prison Sentence: ‘Maybe We Went About Covering Him the Wrong Way’

CBS correspondent Jamie Wax said Friday he believed it was possible the media covered disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti “the wrong way” prior to his issues with the justice system.

“Maybe we went about covering him the wrong way,” Wax said during a Friday segment of CBS This Morning during a discussion of Avenatti’s legal problems. Avenatti rose to prominence as an attorney for Stormy Daniels and received wide coverage from the media for being critical of former President Donald Trump. He fell from grace in 2019 after Nike accused him of extortion, and was sentenced to 30 months in prison in connection with that charge this week.

“I wouldn’t say ‘We’!’ co-host Tony Dokoupil said in response to Wax’s comment.

Laughing, Wax said in reply to Dokoupil, “The press, collectively.”

“It’s a big tent,” Dokoupil said.

CBS This Morning notably interviewed Avenatti six times between 2018 and 2019,

MSNBC — which employs Dokoupil’s wife, Katy Tur, as an anchor — interviewed Avenatti 108 times between 2018 and 2019, according to research by Newsbusters, while CBS This Morning interviewed him six times. CNN topped the list him with 122 combined interviews.

Watch above via CBS News.