CBS News Parts With Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi

CBS News will part ways with “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi when her contract ends at the end of May, according to a Page Six report, following a high-profile editorial dispute with Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss last year.

Alfonsi, who remains on staff through May, has retained prominent Hollywood litigator Bryan Freedman.known for negotiating exits for Megyn Kelly, Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson to handle her departure, Page Six reported.  A CBS News spokesperson declined to comment Friday.  Alfonsi and Freedman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The move comes as Weiss is preparing significant changes to the newsmagazine once its current season concludes this month.

Dispute over Trump administration segmentThe split stems from tension over a December 2024 segment titled “Inside CECOT,” which examined the Trump administration’s deportation of Venezuelan migrants to a high-security prison in El Salvador. Alfonsi publicly criticized Weiss’s last-minute decision to hold the piece, calling it “not an editorial decision” but “a political one.”

“If the standard for airing a story is that ‘the government must agree to be interviewed,’ then the government effectively gains control over the ’60 Minutes’ broadcast,” Alfonsi told colleagues. “We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.”

Weiss said the segment was delayed because it lacked sufficient on-the-record responses from the administration to advance the reporting. She later acknowledged it should not have been pulled so close to airtime but maintained it needed additional work. 

The piece ultimately aired the following month.

Alfonsi, who has reported for “60 Minutes” since 2015, described the incident last week while accepting the Ridenhour Courage Prize as part of a broader “toxic spread of corporate meddling and editorial fear” rather than an isolated dispute.