Lifestyle
The New York Fashion Week digicam diaries: It's 2006 again, baby
I took an old point-and-shoot digital camera to New York Fashion Week because, haven’t you heard? It’s 2006 again, baby — when I was 11, I would lock myself in my room and give myself flash blindness by taking dozens of blown-out pictures of my face on a pink Sony Cybershot that I would upload to MySpace. Fun, hazy times. You know what else was fun, hazy times? New York Fashion Week this year. The Willy Chavarria show. Eckhaus Latta’s anti-show. Seeing Offset walk Luar in a durag and structural floor-length trench coat. And catching up with Tinashe backstage at Elena Velez. Let’s review, shall we?
Area’s 10th anniversary FW24 show, 1 p.m. Sept. 6
The first stop on the trip was the 10th anniversary show of Area, an independent brand helmed by co-founders Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczyk. And it was hands, hands, hands everywhere: a yellow firework of a dress that if you looked closely revealed itself to be a collection of gloves layered on top of each other; stark red handprints on a long black gown. And because it’s Area, hardware was plentiful in distressed leather jackets jangling and dripping with silver spikes and chain mail. The collection was an exercise in individuality, so said the show notes. The presentation was also sponsored by Tinder and partnered with the national abortion rights campaign Bans Off Our Bodies.
Willy Chavarria SS25 show, 7 p.m. Sept. 6
A Willy Chavarria show always feels like a holiday. Walking into the show’s location, a cavernous building on Wall Street, the first thing you noticed was a massive American flag. (Technically, the first thing you noticed were the Don Julio tequila cocktails being served in the lobby, on tables strewn with red roses, but after that: American flag.) The show, titled “América,” celebrated the immigrants, everyday people and working class that make up this country — from farmworkers to hotel staff — and took inspiration from their attire.
Yahritza y Su Esencia emerged from the darkness and started singing the 1984 Juan Gabriel classic “Querida,” and I quite literally felt like I was going to collapse, or combust, or both. The room was emo, there were tears (mine). It’s always gonna be JuanGa forever. The lighting design was pure drama, streaming through the gigantic concrete beams of the building like it was being tapped straight from heaven.
The models walked out in work shirts with squared-off shoulder pads, and there was a distressed cargo skirt suit that looked like it had been bleached by the sun. YG made his appearance in leather gloves, a tracksuit and dress shoes. Artist Delfin Finley came out in a voluminous cinched black suit that evoked a valet worker’s outfit. Chavarria took inspiration from the United Farm Workers movement, putting its logo on a sweatshirt in another look. The belt loop with keys (and a crucifix) that topped many of the looks felt on point — as though Chavarria were elevating these deeply familiar uniforms and silhouettes into new American classics.
Just when we thought the show was done, the room went dark, techno boomed through every nook and cranny and the lighting turned a wash of red. For a second, it felt like we were clubbing in Berlin. Then, Chavarria’s new collaboration with Adidas was revealed at a rapid pace — models walked out in tracksuits featuring classic Chavarria proportions, embroidered with roses. And singer Yendry came out in a cropped track jacket with princess sleeves.
The afters at the Blond — I spotted models who had just walked the show, including Joseph Rayo, Eloy and Emmanuel “Chino” Salazar. Stylist Nayeli De Alba pulled up too.
Tombogo SS25 show, 8 p.m. Sept. 6
Tombogo’s fashion week presentations are always conceptual. Who could forget the SS23 show, “For the Truant and the Fluent,” in which designer and L.A. resident Tommy Bogo created a classroom setting for his runway? This year, Image’s fashion director at large, Keyla Marquez, dubbed it “Alien Core.” But Bogo calls it “Reverse Engineering.” People in white Tombogo lab coats showed the tactical and transformative nature of the clothing, adjusting the looks of most of the models that walked on the runway, snapping on and off extra pockets and appendages to each piece.
I told you, it’s 2006 again. Back when I would use a literal beach bag from Pink by Victoria’s Secret as my everyday purse because I was obviously unwell. I got clowned, sure, but I had the foresight to know how chic a big bag is. This one, with its many, many pockets, reminds me of the multi-pocket Jil Sander bags from the early 2000s that every Depop girlie is salivating over right now. What would I put in this bag? My laptop, a pair of club kid-sized platform boots, a Buick. I love it.
Campillo SS25 show, 9 a.m. Sept. 7
Up bright and early for Campillo — the Mexico City-based brand made its debut at NYFW on a gray morning at the Public Hotel. The presentation was framed by the sounds and silhouettes of designer Patricio Campillo’s beautiful, impeccably tailored world: Starting with the ring of chirping birds that was recorded by his mom in the country and followed up with “El Amar y el Querer” by José José. Androgynous models with slow, considered walks sauntered down the runway. (A look I’m still thinking about days later: an embossed leather suit accessorized with a statement belt buckle, a feather and a brooch.)
The collection was inspired by Mexican volcanoes and their ability to transform space, which came to designer Patricio Campillo while he was meditating: He envisioned himself sitting at the foot of a volcano where he’d also spent time physically. “For me, it was a way to bend fantasy with reality in a way that was very important,” Campillo says. “It made me think of the duality that exists between something that is very peaceful and serene, such as an inactive volcano, versus an eruption — there is a lot of violence involved in that, a lot of energy. That was how I wanted the show to feel. There is something about this Mexican dream that I’m trying to tell the story about, but then in that dream, there is also violence, there’s also eruption and explosion.” The ombré washes of some of the pieces referenced lava turning into rock.
Designer Patricio Campillo.
Campillo reminds me that his brand is based on a family heirloom: a charro suit gifted to his father by his grandfather that he inherited a few years ago. A charro suit is made using specific sartorial techniques, which Campillo applies to other garments, creating something highly specific to him, his experience and his version of the world. “Everything is very personal to me when it comes to my brand,” he says. “It’s the most personal thing that I have in my life.”
Palomo Spain SS25 show, 4 p.m. Sept. 7
Palomo Spain is so drama. Thank God. There is something so campy about being inside a church on the Upper West Side while a model struts the runway in an orange feather wig (the Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York, to be exact). It was just extra in all the best ways: leather studded hot pants, more insanely capacious bags, floor-length leopard gowns, wispy feathers and sequins styled with knee-high boots. It gave print, shine, texture and, ultimately, a story — something to grip onto. Take this from the show notes: “Why are emotions so intrinsic to our humanity — like lust, desire and attraction — condemned with the threat of hell?” OK, go off.
Ryan Preciado’s “Portraits” at Karma, 7 p.m. Sept. 7
No, duh. We pulled up to Ryan Preciado’s show at Karma in the East Village, where Keyla helped me peel my knee-high leather platform boots off so I could step into the 12- by 14-foot architectural structure that Preciado had built inside the space — a literal home — and slide around on the pink carpet, sit on the red daybed and admire the golden bong.
Sandy Liang SS25 show, 3 p.m. Sept. 8
This is the note I was furiously typing on my phone during Sandy Liang’s presentation: “Girly pop, coquette, hot ticket — obviously. Bandannas!!!” Everyone from designer (and Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter) Ella Emhoff to Palestinian model, creator and podcaster Noor Elkhaldi were in the audience for the show, dressed in classic Sandy drip.
Eckhaus Latta SS25 dinner and anti-show, 8 p.m. Sept. 8
The email came in late the previous day: “Join us for an intimate dinner wearing your own loved, worn and archive Eckhaus Latta — all guests will play a part in this season’s dinner and a ‘show.’” NGL, as someone who has heart palpitations every time I’m in a situation where I need to go around the room and give my name and an interesting fact, I was nervous. But also intrigued. And what happened might have been the most fun, free, get-over-yourself vibe of fashion week.
Zoe Latta and Mike Eckhaus welcomed us at a loft space in Tribeca, where there were drinks and a beautiful family-style dinner by Momofuku. (I spilled a berry-flavored Ghia on my digicam when trying to take a photo of writer-director-genius Julio Torres — blame my admiration for the artist — and a couple shots later, the digicam was dead. It lived a long life. RIP.) In between bites of ginger scallion noodles and cucumber peanut salad, served family style, comedian Kate Berlant took to a microphone and revealed that the models would be none other than us — well, not all of us, but enough names that could be called in 10ish minutes. The energy in the room got cute and nervous. Berlant kicked things off with her own full-volume strut, followed by people like musician Moses Sumney, actor Jemima Kirke, artist Chloe Wise, Emhoff and culminating in Eckhaus and Latta.
The show had a live soundtrack, sung by L.A. musician Loren Kramar, whom I sat next to at dinner and chatted about, what else? L.A.
Elena Velez SS25 show, 6 p.m. Sept. 10
I picked up a new (old) digicam at a used camera shop in Midtown, and we were back in action. Backstage at Elena Velez, I realized that I not only wanted a pair of the platform Uggs they were styling all the looks with but I also needed those damn Uggs — what did I tell you about 2006? Models were eating apples and vaping while they got their hair done in tight, messy curls kept in place by Qiqi products. Key makeup artist Raisa Flowers told me that the beauty references were dark and gothic, which she interpreted into a grungy, smokey eye, using black eyeliner as a base with shadow thrown on top to achieve the feeling of coming home from a party and sleeping in your makeup. The skin was high-shine dewy — which Flowers says has been a trend this season — with a bitten lip.
I spotted musician Tinashe while she was getting her hair and makeup done, snapping photos throughout the process (which she was gracious about). It was her first time walking a fashion show and she felt a kindred artistic spirit with the designer. “Elena takes risks which I love,” Tinashe told me as stylists were snatching her into a corseted dress that looked like it was made of remixed jerseys. “It’s got this grunge-y, fun energy. She’s incorporating a lot of the energy that I’m also incorporating with my art, and I think there’s just perfect synergy there.” When asked whether Elena Velez would be considered “Nasty,” Tinashe responded: “Period. Of course.”
A Michael Anthony Hall moment.
The brand writes that the show was inspired by “renegade pageant queens and patriots.”
Luar SS25 show, 8 p.m. Sept. 10
Everything feels like it’s been building toward this moment: Luar. Yes, Ice Spice, Madonna, Bad Gyal, Gabriette, Amanda Lepore and Brenda Hashtag, the patron saint of fashion girls for whom the color black is religion, were all in the front row. It’s true. But it was the energy and excitement for designer Raul López that felt most major. There was a palpable anticipation in seeing what López would bring to the table this time in terms of the clothes, the fact that it was at Rockefeller Plaza — a dream location for him. Lopez built the collection around the Dominican saying, “En boca quedó,” which is a knowing that even after you leave a room, people will keep talking about you. It was an ode to his younger self, who was on a journey toward authenticity, toggling between ideas of purity and performance. It was anchored in the idea of transformation. The clothes: Cocooned hoods, floor-grazing trench coats with a kind of backward veil, cinched jackets with ’80s proportions in leopard-printed pony hair and an iridescent shorts suit the color of rich amber.
Amanda Lepore sighting.
Gabbriette sighting.
Kirsten Chen, a.k.a. @hotgothwriter, sighting. In a look by designer Ranxelle Soria.
The styling and beauty on many of the looks evoked, for me, the enduring influence of Black and brown aunties everywhere — the hair gelled to sculptural effect, the nails, the eyebrows.
Seeing the pieces IRL the next way, feeling the weight and appreciating the details of them, it was even clearer that this collection was rooted in metamorphosis, which crystallized when seeing many of the cocooned pieces in person. Luar presented shoes for the first time as well, including boots, loafers, clogs and kitten heels.
Rio SS25 show, 1 p.m. Sept. 11
Rio, formerly known as Gypsy Sport, re-introduced itself on the rooftop of the LilliStar in Brooklyn with its new name. As is designer Rio Uribe’s specialty: The community was in full effect. Each model brought themselves to the performance, fully, and there was a feeling of realness that was classic Uribe. When all the models paraded out together wearing remixed, upcycled Rio pieces, Duran Duran’s “Rio” played.
The scoreboard shows the results of the women’s singles final match between Iga Swiatek of Poland and Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Fifteen points in tennis? Nice. Thirty, 40 — even better. Advantage — that sounds good. “Love” — that also must be great, right? Well, not quite.
As the French Open rolls on and Serena Williams has announced her return to the sport, maybe you’ve been paying a little more attention to tennis. The sport’s scoring system is notably distinct, and can sometimes be hard to grasp for newcomers. But even tennis aficionados might not know why, or how, “love” became the unmistakable callout for zero points. For this installment of NPR’s Word of the Week, we’re exploring how a word that signifies trailing behind got such a sweet name.
“Love” comes from the heart — or an egg?
It’s hard to pinpoint when the first tennis ball went over the net. Tennis is a derivative of lots of other sports, such as “jeu de paume,” a handball game played in France, said JT Buzanga, the collections manager at the International Tennis Hall of Fame museum.
But tennis became a patented, official sport in 1874, said Steve Flink, a journalist whose tennis coverage got him inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It has retained its unique, mysterious scoring system ever since.
“By and large, the original system has held up almost entirely,” Flink said.
The use of “love” goes back to the late 18th century, said Jesse Sheidlower, a lexicographer. But it was used earlier than that in card games such as whist and bridge. Before the term made its way to tennis, the sport favored plain old “nothing,” or “nil,” he said.
Why love in the first place, though? Historians don’t really know for sure, but there are a few theories.
The French could have something to do with it. Some historians believe “love” derives from “l’oeuf,” which means “the egg” in French. Because eggs are shaped like zeros, terms such as “goose egg” and “duck’s egg” have been used in other contexts to mean zero, Sheidlower said.
It’s also possible English speakers mispronounced l’oeuf as “love.” But Sheidlower isn’t convinced that’s the answer.
“It’s the French equivalent of an English expression. But since that expression doesn’t appear in French, the French word wouldn’t have been used,” he said.
To be sure, France has had a lot of influence on tennis culture, Buzanga said. For example, “deuce” or a game tied at 40 points, comes from the French word for “two”: “deux.” But he prefers another prominent theory: that “love” comes from the idiom “for the love of the game.” Even if a player hasn’t scored, it doesn’t matter, because their heart is in it. It’s the theory Sheidlower said is the most plausible, because the idiom was used by the English before tennis was popularized.
Another variation of the “love of the game” theory is that the word could have come from the Dutch “lof,” or “honor” — or the Latin “amare,” meaning “to love,” Flink said.
But if tennis’ “love” doesn’t come from a French word, the theory at least has a French sensibility.
“I think the ‘for the love of the game’ is kind of romantic,” Buzanga said.
“Love” probably isn’t going anywhere
Tennis used to be a sport of leisure. The style of play has changed a lot over the years; players are more athletic and competitive, for instance, Flink said. But the rules of the sport are more steadfast, he said.
“There’s this incredible, enduring respect for tradition in tennis,” he said. “Changes are not made easily.”
There has been one major change in modern history: the tie-break. Matches can go on and on because players have to score two consecutive points to break a deuce, or by two games to break a tied set. But the onset of television meant matches would have to get shorter if the sport wanted to capture a larger audience, Flink said.
Change even came for “love.” An alternative sprouted up in the 1970s, and is still used today: “bagel,” named for its zero shape, Sheidlower said. Novices may say “zero,” and insiders will understand what they mean, but they “will needle them about it,” Flink said.
But “love” still prevails.
“People kind of like it,” Flink said. “It’s different. Why say zero when you can say love?”
On a 75-mile cliff-hugging stretch of highway in California, traffic is way up, despite soaring gas prices. And locals expect the busiest summer in years.
The road is Highway 1 in Big Sur, which reopened in January after three years of repair and reconstruction following a pair of landslides. Drivers can once again embark on the state’s most famous road trip, covering the 100 miles between Cambria to the south and Carmel to the north without leaving the two-lane coastal highway. And they’re heading out in big numbers.
Caltrans estimates that as of May, Big Sur restaurant and retailer guest counts are up 40% from last year, and that northbound traffic at Ragged Point, the southern gateway to Big Sur, has risen 900% year-over-year.
People pose for photos near Bixby Bridge. Monterey County’s Board of Supervisors voted to explore a 12-month ban on parking around the bridge.
Safety cones prevent parking along Coast Road near the Bixby Bridge.
“Take your time,” said Kirk Gafill, co-owner of the popular Nepenthe restaurant and president of the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce, offering advice to travelers. “You’re going to be sharing the road with a number of people.”
As travelers rediscover the road, the cost of driving has been shooting skyward. California’s average gas price ($6.11 per gallon as of May 26) is up 26% from the year before. In early April, rates hit $9.99 at the isolated gas station in the Big Sur community of Gorda.
For spring and summer travelers, these numbers would seem to pose a stark question: Stay home and save money, or head for the coast because the road is finally open and it’s still cheaper than flying?
So far, the latter answer is winning big.
Fog lingers off the coast of Highway 1.
“We are definitely seeing a huge uptick in our reservations,” said Megan Handy, assistant general manager at the upscale Treebones resort. She estimated that bookings are 30% or more ahead of last year, and rates are unchanged since then. But “it’s still not feeling super crowded, which is nice. Everything still feels kind of calm.”
But added traffic has raised some anxiety. On May 19, Monterey County’s Board of Supervisors voted to explore a 12-month ban on parking at Bixby Bridge, one of the region’s top photo spots.
Over the years, the number of cars parking near the bridge — often illegally, sometimes impeding emergency vehicles — has risen. The proposed parking moratorium won’t take effect until the supervisors discuss it further.
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Busy as things are, several business owners pointed out that many international travelers have not yet returned — perhaps because most make their plans more than six months ahead, perhaps because of global politics, perhaps a little of each.
The biggest challenge for businesses during this resurgence? “Restaffing and retaining,” said Handy at Treetops.
At Nepenthe, Gafill said his business has seen a 45% boost in guest volume since the road’s reopening. Gafill said he would have expected a 35% pickup, “simply by virtue of reopening the highway.” The additional 10%, he said, might be “all that pent-up demand,” aided by “a very beautiful and very dry winter,” followed by a mild spring.
A lunch crowd dines at popular restaurant Nepenthe.
Another possible factor: Nobody can be sure how long the road will remain open.
To cope with the influx of people, Gafill said, “everybody is trying to recruit and retain their existing staff.”
At the Ragged Point Inn, where rates dropped as low as $149 nightly last fall, rates are back over $200 and staffers are suggesting that customers book at least six months ahead. The inn has reopened its snack bar for the first time since early 2023, and management is investing in capital upgrades and staging live music on weekends throughout the summer.
Business “is up over 100%,” said Diane Ramey, whose family owns the inn. “I know not all of our neighbors are having the same lift, but everybody is doing better.”
Traffic approaching Bixby Bridge.
A visitor poses in an oversized chair at Big Sur River Inn.
Even at the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a Benedictine monastery above Lucia, the road’s reopening and coming summer season have made a difference. Bookings are up an estimated 30% at the hermitage, which rent rooms and cottages (for two nights or more) to visitors who agree to its requirement of silence.
Big Sur business owners advise visitors to travel on weekdays for less traffic and the best hotel rates, and to get on the road as early as possible.
Since its opening in 1937, the highway has been vulnerable to landslides and shifting ground, operating on a longstanding cycle of landslide, closure, repair, reopening and then another landslide, or sometimes a fire. The U.S. Geological Survey has identified the Big Sur coastline as one of the most landslide-prone areas in the western United States. The 2023-2026 closure was the longest in the highway’s history.
Over time, road crews have used increasingly sophisticated strategies. In the most recent efforts, Caltrans said, it used drones to help survey the slopes and remotely operated bulldozers and excavators to reduce risks to workers.
During the closure, no traffic was allowed on 6.8-mile span from just north of Lucia until about a mile south of the Esalen Institute. Drivers detoured inland by way of U.S. 101.
Correspondents of CBS’ 60 Minutes pose for a portrait in 2023. From left to right, they are Sharyn Alfonsi, L. Jon Wertheim, Bill Whitaker, Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega, and Anderson Cooper. Former Executive Producer Bill Owens sits on the far right. Only Wertheim, Whitaker and Stahl remain at the program.
CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images/CBS
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When CBS fired Scott Pelley on Tuesday night, the new 60 Minutes executive producer, Nick Bilton, told Pelley it was for insubordination at a staff meeting the day before.
The veteran correspondent argues he was defending the DNA of 60 Minutes and the integrity of its journalism.
The battle royale over the network’s most prestigious and profitable news program is part of a broader fight over the direction of CBS News.
And given CBS’s acquisition by a billionaire family whose business interests have become intertwined with the political interests of President Trump, it reflects a larger war over control of the media in the current moment.
That father and son, Larry and David Ellison, bought CBS’ parent company, Paramount, last summer. In January, they became co-owners of TikTok’s U.S. operations. Now they’re seeking approval from Trump’s regulators to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN.
A glamorous show shorn, for now, of most its stars
CBS fired Cecilia Vega, a correspondent, and Tanya Simon, the executive producer, from 60 Minutes last week. They are shown in this photo at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 25, 2026 in Washington, D.C.
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Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images/Variety
But the specifics of this individual episode matter — for 60 Minutes, CBS, its audience of millions, and even the news business itself.
The program has been the most glamorous post in broadcast news. The correspondents are the stars of the show. And now, there are just three of them.
Anderson Cooper left last month, concerned over the direction of the network’s coverage. Last week was a virtual bloodbath: correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi were fired. So were a producer and two show executives — including Tanya Simon, a longtime staffer who had stepped up as executive producer when her predecessor resigned in protest before the Ellisons’ takeover.
With Pelley’s ouster, only correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and Jon Wertheim remain. Now they are considering whether to resign, according to two associates with knowledge.
Their brand-new boss, Bilton, was previously a tech reporter for The New York Times and an investigative reporter for Vanity Fair. He executive-produced a documentary for Netflix about a couple accused of laundering Bitcoin and has been a producer on several other films.
Notably, he has no experience in television news.
Neither does Bari Weiss, whom David Ellison installed as the network’s editor in chief last October. The Ellisons also bought her center-right views-and-news site, The Free Press.
She has maintained that the network of Walter Cronkite needs a makeover for the digital moment. She has also contended for years that CBS, along with the rest of mainstream media, is too reflexively anti-Trump, anti-Israel, and too woke.
A rejection of CBS News executives’ overtures
The new executive producer of 60 Minutes, Nick Bilton, has been a tech journalist and documentary filmmaker, but lacks experience in broadcast news.
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Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images/Getty Images North America
Bilton attempted to set a conciliatory tone at Monday’s meeting — his first with the show. Pelley, a formidable veteran correspondent and former CBS Evening News anchor, wasn’t having it.
Pelley called Bilton unwelcome and unqualified. And Pelley said that Weiss was attempting to “murder” the program.
In firing Pelley on Tuesday, Bilton said the journalist had hijacked the meeting and rejected overtures to work constructively through their differences. (NPR obtained a copy of the firing notice.) Bilton wrote that Pelley’s “antipathy to the future of the show came through loud and clear.”
In his own statement late Tuesday evening, shared with NPR, Pelley accused CBS’s new news leadership of killing 60 Minutes‘ DNA and pushing him “to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story” and “to include assertions that are unverified.”
The accusations, to which CBS has not yet responded, echo those made by Alfonsi and Vega, the two correspondents fired last week.
Earlier this year, Alfonsi publicly complained after Weiss held one of her stories at the last minute, and kept it frozen for weeks, demanding an on-camera interview with a Trump White House official that never played out. It ran, unchanged from the intended version, with additional statements from the administration tacked on to the end.
After being fired, Vega said in a statement obtained by NPR that her team had “experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories.”
“Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both censorship and self-driven” Vega continued. “It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.”
Weiss previously rejected Alfonsi’s and Vega’s allegations. (CBS said Vega’s claims, for example, were “not based in reality” while expressing appreciation for her work.)
Weiss and Bilton say digital threat requires a 60 Minutes overhaul now
In a meeting this morning, Weiss said that Pelley chose his own path — that is, to be fired rather than to find a way to work through his concerns, according to attendees. The network and Weiss have not yet publicly addressed Pelley’s accusations of interference.
Bilton and Weiss say they respect the show’s traditions, its accomplishments and its legacy of enterprise reporting, extended interviews and visual storytelling. It rose in the ratings 9% over the past season under Simon.
The two news leaders say, however, 60 Minutes needs to be overhauled before it becomes increasingly irrelevant in the era of streamers and other sources of news, information and entertainment in the digital age.
Interviews with 12 current and former CBS News staffers, from producers to executives, suggest great reservations and suspicions remain about Weiss’ judgment and her ability to handle the prominent and even famous journalists on whom her division relies.
Weiss had initially sought to reinvent the CBS Evening News, dropping a two-anchor format that had sagged in the ratings. Cooper turned down Weiss’ overtures to anchor it and left the network altogether, concerned about her approach, according to associates. (They spoke on condition of anonymity because Cooper has not chosen to speak publicly on the matter.)
David Ellison became chairman and CEO of CBS’ parent company, Paramount, after buying it last year.
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Noam Galai/Getty Images for Paramount/Getty Images North America
The ratings have continued to sag under new anchor Tony Dokoupil. And some CBS journalists, including producers who have left the Evening News, have publicly accused Weiss of making editorial decisions driven by politics. She has rejected those claims.
The decision to take on overhauling two key shows — one listing, one highly profitable, both high profile — carries significant risks for Weiss and the network, even apart from other considerations.
But the Ellisons’ presence cannot be ignored.
When Shari Redstone was negotiating the sale of CBS’s parent company, Paramount, to the Ellisons’ Skydance Media last year, the network announced the end of Stephen Colbert’s late night show. He had been one of the president’s most biting and acerbic critics.
David Ellison also made a series of concessions directly to Trump’s chief broadcast regulator, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, gutting CBS’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and appointing a conservative ombudsman to field complaints of bias against its news reporting.
Carr and other regulators approved the Paramount deal last summer.
The accommodations echo those made by other media titans.
Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos remade the editorial pages of the Washington Post, which he owns, into a far more hospitable zone for Trump at the outset of his second term. So did Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a noted medical device inventor. Amazon and Blue Origin have multi-billion dollar contracts with the federal government. Soon-Shiong’s medical research firm routinely has patent applications up for review with federal regulators. One was approved Tuesday.
The Ellisons are hoping to win approval from federal regulators next month for their purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal valued at more than $110 billion. It would include Warner Bros. Studio, HBO and CNN, among other properties.
As Weiss routs CBS News’ old guard, the question of what role she might play at CNN — and what changes that portends at CBS — hangs over journalists at the two networks. The fate of 60 Minutes serves as a high-stakes case study for both.
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