The exodus from “60 Minutes” continued this week as veteran producer Henry Schuster announced he is leaving CBS News after nearly two decades, becoming the latest prominent figure to depart the news magazine under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
Unlike many of the recent exits that have rocked “60 Minutes,” however, Schuster’s departure was not tied to the sweeping overhaul of the program.
He informed then-executive producer Tanya Simon in February that he was ready to move on — months before the wave of firings that transformed the broadcast, according to the Guardian newspaper.
In a farewell message to colleagues reviewed by the publication, Schuster wrote that Simon asked only that he remain through the end of the season.
“When I went to Tanya [Simon] in February, I told her I was ready to go, that I needed a break,” Schuster wrote.
“She could not have been more helpful, only asking if I would stay through the end of the season.”
Schuster acknowledged that his Monday departure was eclipsed by the recent events at the broadcast.
“It has been overshadowed by the forced departures of so many colleagues and friends at the broadcast,” Schuster said in a LinkedIn post announcing his exit.
The longtime producer also paid tribute to fired correspondent Scott Pelley, writing that “I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t sought me out” from CNN. He credited Pelley for many of his most memorable assignments over the years.
While Schuster’s exit was long planned, it adds another familiar name to the growing list of departures from one of television’s most prestigious news programs.
The upheaval began prior to Weiss’ arrival as editor-in-chief last year, when longtime executive producer Bill Owens resigned, blaming what he called growing corporate involvement that had stripped him of editorial independence.
After Paramount Skydance installed Weiss to lead CBS News, the network dismissed Owens’ successor, Simon, along with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, senior executive producer Draggan Mihailovich, veteran producer Guy Campanile and digital operations chief Matthew Polevoy.
The shakeup culminated in the firing of Pelley after he confronted newly installed executive producer Nick Bilton during a staff meeting, accusing Weiss of “murdering” “60 Minutes” and saying she had been “brought in to kill it.”
Anderson Cooper also departed “60 Minutes” earlier this year after nearly two decades with the program, while remaining at CNN.
Although Cooper publicly said he wanted to focus on his family and his work at CNN, multiple reports indicated he was uncomfortable with the direction of CBS News under Weiss.
The remaining “60 Minutes” correspondents — Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim — decided to stay after publicly wrestling with whether to leave.
In a joint memo to colleagues, they said they feared their return would be viewed as an endorsement of management, insisting that was “simply, categorically not the case,” explaining that they remained because they did not “want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die.”
CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
