Shari Redstone says CBS leaders made ‘bad mistake’ with handling of Ta-Nehisi Coates interview fallout

Shari Redstone, the chairwoman and CEO of CBS parent company Paramount Global, said Wednesday that CBS leadership made a “bad mistake” with their handling of the fallout over “CBS Mornings” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil’s contentious interview last week with author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

In stark opposition to what CBS editorial leadership told staff on Monday, Redstone said she did not think Dokoupil violated editorial standards during the interview.

“I think Tony did a great job with that interview. I think he handled himself and showed the world and modeled what civil discourse is. He showed that there was accountability, that there is a system of checks and balances, and frankly, I was very proud of the work that he did,” Redstone said Wednesday during a panel at AdWeek in New York.

Redstone said she’s expressed her support to Dokoupil directly, but that she’s “very glad” CBS had Coates on the air to discuss the acclaimed author’s new book, “The Message.”

“But we have to also provide the opportunity to challenge him on what he says, just like we challenge everybody else,” Redstone said.

Coates, a National Book Award winner, released “The Message” last week, in which he portrays Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as a moral crime, one that many Americans can’t or won’t face directly.

During a daily editorial meeting Monday, CBS News executives said Dokoupil had violated the network’s editorial standards during the Coates interview, where the host compared the book to “extremist” writings.

On Wednesday, Redstone said the network’s executives made a “bad mistake” in how they handled the ensuing controversy over the interview.

“I’ve been working with the CEOs. 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,” Redstone said.

In the wake of internal complaints over the interview, CBS News and Stations president and CEO Wendy McMahon and her top deputy Adrienne Roark had enlisted the network’s standards and practices unit to conduct a review of the discussion. The news division’s race and culture unit was involved as well.

A person familiar with the network’s review defended the network’s actions on Wednesday, telling CNN the issue was “handled respectfully.”

“This issue was red hot, and there were many, many, many people in the organization who were concerned about how that interview was handled,” the person said. “It’s clear this was an issue that required a process and serious conversations and serious reviews, and that’s what happened.”