CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman faces a sexual harassment lawsuit from former ABC News field producer Samira Said, who alleges he made inappropriate sexual remarks during two work assignments.
Said’s suit, filed Friday, claims the incidents occurred while she worked at ABC from 2021 to 2025. In one, Gutman allegedly initiated a discussion rating a female correspondent’s appearance and reducing her to a numerical score based on physical attributes while they waited on a public line; other male crew members joined and pressured Said to participate, which she refused, calling the talk inappropriate. In the second, during coverage of a movie-release press event, Gutman allegedly made a “sexualized insinuation” in front of coworkers that Said must have an after-hours date after they disagreed about leaving the site, comments she says demeaned her and reduced her professional judgment to a stereotype.
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| Gutman, Said |
- In January 2020 he falsely reported on air that all four of Kobe Bryant’s children had died in the helicopter crash that killed Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. ABC suspended him, stating the initial reporting “was not accurate and failed to meet our editorial standards.” He later corrected the error and publicly apologized to the Bryant family.
- About a year later, in February 2021, he was suspended again after visiting a hospital without network approval, violating ABC’s COVID-19 policy requiring advance clearance for such visits.
- In late 2025, while covering the killing of Charlie Kirk, Gutman described a text exchange between alleged shooter Tyler Robinson and his romantic partner as “very touching,” noting Robinson’s repeated use of “my love” toward his transitioning roommate and framing it as a “duality” alongside the assassination.
After backlash he apologized, saying he had tried to underscore the contrast between the crime and the personal texts but that his words “did not make that clear,” while unequivocally condemning the killing.