Former CBS News investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge revealed that network executives blocked a potential live interview with Elon Musk in fall 2023, citing fears over his unpredictable statements and insisting on pre-recording the segment for editing control, as well as airing it exclusively on a CBS platform.
Herridge, speaking in a recent video posted to X on January 1, 2026, described pitching the interview opportunity amid her reporting on the Twitter Files—internal documents released by Musk after his acquisition of Twitter (now X) that exposed how the platform suppressed certain stories, including those related to Hunter Biden's laptop under pressure from the Biden administration and federal agencies.
"We don't know what [Elon Musk] is going to say," Herridge recounted executives telling her, adding that she was stunned by the response: "Isn't that the point of journalism? You don't know what the person's going to say?"
Straight to the Point:
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) January 1, 2026
When Corporate Media Bias Is Baked In
In the fall of 2023, I brought CBS News a proposed interview opportunity with Elon Musk.
CBS Executives said the interview couldn’t be done live, rather it had to be pre-recorded so they had the ability to edit Musk… pic.twitter.com/nuS3A4cDsL
Musk had proposed a live interview on his own platform, aligning with his advocacy for free speech. Herridge suggested compromises, such as simulcasting on X and CBS's streaming service, but all proposals were rejected. Feeling "ashamed" that a news organization would impose such restrictions—typically demanded by interview subjects, not networks—she never followed up with Musk.
This incident echoes Herridge's earlier accounts from late 2024, where she first publicly detailed the blocked interview during appearances on NewsNation and in subscriber videos. She has tied it to broader internal resistance at CBS, including delays in her Hunter Biden laptop reporting and her eventual firing in February 2024 amid layoffs.
Herridge, an Emmy-winning journalist fired by CBS despite her high-profile national security and investigative work, now operates independently on X and through her newsletter.
CBS News, under different management at the time of the Musk proposal, did not respond to requests for comment in her latest video.
The revelation has fueled criticism of legacy media's approach to high-profile figures like Musk, highlighting tensions over editorial control versus unfiltered discourse, especially on topics like government influence on social media censorship.