Shari Redstone Backs Tony Dokoupil Amid Fallout Over CBS’ Ta-Nehisi Coates Interview
The chair of Paramount Global, Shari Redstone, is backing CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil after a contentious interview last week with author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
“I frankly think Tony did a great job with that interview,” Redstone said on Wednesday. “I was very proud of the work that he did. Yes, as hard as it was for me to go against this company, I think they made a mistake here.”
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“I just want to be clear that I’ve been working with the CEOs,” the mogul elaborated. “I’ve been working with the woman who does a lot of our diversity training, and I think we all agree that this was not handled correctly, and we all agree that something needs to be done. I don’t have, you know, editorial control. I am not an executive, but I have a voice in our platform, like all of us.”
The comments from Redstone came during a panel at Advertising Week specifically focused on “using engaging content to fight hate.” Redstone, who has been publicly outspoken in support for Israel since Hamas’ terrorist attack last Oct. 7, was joined on the panel by ATTN co-CEO Matthew Segal. Axios reporter Sara Fischer moderated the discussion.
The comments also came after CBS Mornings co-anchor Tony Dokoupil is said to have discussed the matter with his CBS News colleagues. It is not immediately clear what Dokoupil said.
The interview was about Coates’ new book The Message, which passionately argues that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is immoral and should be condemned.
Dokoupil asked pointed questions of Coates like, “Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it?” and comments like, “I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards, the acclaim … the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.”
It also ended on an awkward note with an apparent joke about inviting Coates to the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah was last week, and Yom Kippur is later this week).
The tone of Dokoupil’s interview was what led to the response from CBS News chief Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark, who heads newsgathering. The executives told CBS staff that the interview did not meet the network’s editorial standards.
However, a CBS News source said that the reprimand was also connected to previous instances of Dokoupil rewriting scripts or disregarding CBS editorial standards for fairness. In other words, it was the previous actions, vombined with the tense interview, that led to the intervention.
In addition, there is said to have been an internal email campaign that indicated that if executives did not address Dokoupil’s interview, then the group would have gone public itself.
In fact, Dokoupil’s interview with Coates interview reverberated throughout CBS News, not surprisingly given the strong emotional responses stirred by anything that touches the nature of Israel and Palestine. Some internally took issue with Dokoupil’s questioning, while others felt that most of the questions were OK, but the tone and framing went too far. Others felt that Dokoupil did nothing wrong, and his questions and tone were acceptable.
That included CBS News legal correspondent Jan Crawford, who took issue with the decision to call out Dokoupil in the staff meeting Monday.
“I thought our commitment was to truth. And when someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it’s my understanding that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account, a more balanced account,” Crawford said. “And, to me, that is what Tony did.”
In an interview with Trevor Noah, Coates said that he felt more for Dokoupil’s colleagues Gayle King and Nate Burleson, who were shut out of the conversation.
Dokoupil “probably did me a service … by just kind of commandeering that interview, I don’t think he did Nate and Gayle a service, and I’m really, really sorry for them,” Coates said. “I figured at some point it was gonna be a fight. You know, I didn’t know it was gonna be right then, but I figured at some point it was gonna be a fight.”
Redstone said Wednesday that “I think the most important thing that can come out of this is that we all recognize that we need to provide a platform where people can have a voice, where they can have civil discourse, where they can challenge each other, and we need to make sure that we give equal opportunity for this regardless of what side of the issue you’re on.”
“I’m very glad that we had this person on our show,” she continued, referencing Coates. “I’m very glad that we gave him an opportunity to speak, but we have to also provide the opportunity to challenge him on what he says, just like we challenge everybody else.”
The panel also included comments from Redstone about the pending sale to David Ellison’s Skydance, emphasizing that she told Ellison that her legacy and that of her father Sumner Redstone were important to her.
“I love this company, I will always be there for the team, and I hope that our legacy will continue,” Redstone said.
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