Fired CBS Information correspondent Catherine Herridge claims her former bosses blocked an unique interview she had snagged with Elon Musk in early 2023 — as a result of they have been afraid what the outspoken tech mogul may say.
In a video posted to X, Herridge revealed that she approached CBS execs with the chance to interview Musk, who had been within the information for his launch of the Twitter information in late 2022 to a handful of tech and media journalists.
The reporters printed the information, which make clear how Twitter was secretly “blacklisting” conservative tweets and customers, together with its baseless resolution to censor The Publish’s bombshell Hunter Biden laptop computer scoop within the run-up to the 2020 election.
Musk, who purchased Twitter and renamed it X in 2022, indicated to Herridge that he would sit down together with her and do a stay interview, which might be broadcast on X.
Herridge had been investigating the Hunter Biden laptop computer scandal for CBS on the behest of Shari Redstone, the media mogul whose Paramount empire managed CBS Information, and CBS CEO George Cheeks, the reporter additionally revealed on Tuesday, however famous beforehand that she had encountered roadblocks in her reporting.
“I went to the CBS executives and I said, ‘This is the opportunity that we have.’ He’s saying, ‘I want to do it live and on my platform,’ I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is an incredible opportunity,’” Herridge recounts within the video. “Elon Musk on CBS News! He’s one of the most influential human beings on the planet, and the reaction from the executives was, ‘Well, we can’t do it live.’”
Herridge was perplexed because it’s normally helpful for an interview to be granted with no circumstances over the content material.
“‘I was like, ‘What do you mean we can’t do it live?,’” she requested, to which she stated higher-ups stated: “‘Well, we don’t know what he’s going to say.’”
Exasperated, Herridge tells viewers: “I’m thinking, ‘Isn’t that the point of journalism?’ You don’t know what the person’s going to say.”
A CBS spokesperson declined to remark.
Herridge stated CBS execs informed the investigative journalist that the interview must be taped and edited. Additionally they took situation with the truth that Musk needed the interview on his platform.
Herridge stated she mentioned together with her bosses a state of affairs by which the interview could possibly be simulcast on X and CBS’ streaming service, in order that they may each air it on the identical time.
“Everything got shot down,” the reporter recounted. “I felt so ashamed, frankly, that I never went back to Elon Musk.”
She defined that CBS had an extended checklist of circumstances for the interview, which she didn’t suppose Musk would settle for.
“This is someone whose DNA is free speech and how do you tell someone who’s committed to free speech that your network can only do it taped and only if they edit it and it can only be on their platform? I couldn’t go back to him with that,” she stated.
Earlier this month, the acclaimed investigative reporter revealed in her e-newsletter that she encountered roadblocks from then-CBS Information president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and Washington, DC, bureau chief Mark Lima, and in the end, her preliminary reporting in 2020 — which verified that the laptop computer was Biden’s and had not been tampered with — was killed by the community.
She advocated for her reporting on the matter and it was broadcast in November 2022, after the midterm elections.
Herridge, who now has a e-newsletter and filed unique investigative probes for X, was ousted earlier this yr amid sweeping cuts on the community and guardian firm Paramount International. CBS Information seized Herridge’s reporting supplies upon her termination.
on Hunter Biden’s laptop computer.
Sources near the state of affairs claimed that the choice to carry on to her information was made by Ciprian-Matthews. The information have been returned days later amid stress from the union representing Herridge.
Earlier this yr, The Publish revealed that Ciprian-Matthews was accused of sidelining white journalists and blocking Herridge’s reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop computer.
The exec abruptly stepped down in August, and moved to the position of senior adviser for protection of the 2024 presidential election earlier than. She just lately left the community.
