Couric Felt Gaslit by '60 Minutes' Over Assignments

Journalist Katie Couric recently shared difficult experiences from her tenure at "60 Minutes" more than twenty years ago. Speaking on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast on June 24, she stated that "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager seemed to dislike her and may have reassigned her stories without proper consultation. Couric recounted pitching a profile on Lady Gaga, which was initially rejected, only to be reassigned to Anderson Cooper a year later, despite her new angle being accepted.

Similar experiences occurred with a potential interview of Hillary Clinton. Couric explained that Fager had explicitly assigned her the story, but she later learned Scott Pelley's team was also pursuing Clinton, leading to the interview ultimately being reassigned to Pelley. Couric described feeling "insane" and "gaslit" by these decisions, particularly because Fager allegedly did not communicate the changes or reasons to her directly.

Jeff Fager, who executive-produced "60 Minutes" from 2004 to 2018 and chaired CBS News from 2011, was fired in 2018 over a threatening message to a reporter. This occurred amid accusations of inappropriate behavior and covering up misconduct, which he denied. Before Couric, Meredith Vieira had also alleged sexism at CBS. More recently, Scott Pelley was fired from "60 Minutes" on June 2, 2026, for criticizing CBS News leadership, while Anderson Cooper departed the program in May 2026 after two decades.