CBS News boss Bari Weiss clashes with Paramount over Epstein-linked wellness guru
The Free Press's co-founders, Suzy Weiss, Bari Weiss, and Nellie Bowles, pose in this handout picture. Daniel Paik/Paramount/Handout via REUTERS
February 03, 2026
Tensions are boiling over inside CBS News as editor-in-chief Bari Weiss reportedly digs in her heels over controversial wellness influencer Peter Attia, whose name surfaced repeatedly in newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails. According to The Wrap, Weiss is resisting internal pressure to sever ties with Attia — who exchanged hundreds of friendly messages with Epstein and appears more than 1,700 times in the document dump — setting up a showdown with Paramount executives who view the situation as a growing liability. Insiders say Weiss considers demands to drop Attia a capitulation to public outrage, while corporate leadership sees an unavoidable HR crisis, leaving CEO David Ellison poised to decide Attia’s fate. The dispute adds to a string of missteps during Weiss’s turbulent four-month tenure, already marked by programming shakeups, internal backlash, and an embarrassing on-air rollout gone wrong.
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