NEW YORK, May 19 (Xinhua) -- CBS Broadcasting Inc. faced another shock wave on Monday after its president, Wendy McMahon, abruptly said that she would exit her post, the latest development in an ongoing showdown between the news division and U.S. President Donald Trump.
McMahon, whose full title was president of CBS News and Stations, said in a memo that "it's become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward." Tensions between McMahon and CBS's parent company, Paramount, have simmered for months, a period that McMahon described in her memo as "challenging," according to Editor and Publisher.
Paramount is in talks to settle a 20-billion-U.S.-dollar lawsuit brought by Trump that accused CBS's "60 Minutes" of deceptively editing an interview last year with his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.
According to The New York Times, many legal experts have called the suit baseless, but Paramount's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, has said she favors settling the case. She is seeking the Trump administration's approval for a multibillion-dollar sale of her company to a Hollywood studio, Skydance.
The situation prompted the executive producer of "60 Minutes," Bill Owens, to resign last month, saying he no longer enjoyed his usual journalistic independence. At the time, McMahon took pains to signal her support for Owens, saying that "standing behind" the producer "was an easy decision for me." ■