Who Is Tony Dokoupil? 5 Things to Know About Rumored New ‘CBS Evening News’ Anchor
CBS Evening News is undergoing a revamp under CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss. John Dickerson and Maurice DuBuois will cohost the show for the last time later this month, with Tony Dokoupil reportedly stepping in as the new anchor.
DuBuois confirmed last week that his last show will be on December 18, and the network is expected to announce Dokoupil as anchor on December 9, according to Page Six. Scroll down to learn more about the journalist who’s stepping into the Evening News role.
Where has Tony Dokoupil worked?
Dokoupil first joined CBS News as a New York correspondent in August 2016. He became co-anchor of CBS Mornings (name CBS This Morning at the time) in May 2019. Since 2021, he has been cohosting the show alongside Gayle King and Nate Burleson. Dokoupil also began cohosting CBS Mornings Plus, a third hour of the morning news show, in September 2024.
Prior to joining CBS News, he worked at NBC News and MSNBC (now MS NOW). He joined the former as a senior writer in September 2013 before becoming a reporter at MSNBC.
Dokoupil wrote for Newsweek and The Daily Beast from 2007 to 2013.
Is Tony Dokoupil married?
Yes, Dokoupil has been married to journalist Katy Tur since 2017. Tur works for MS NOW and met Dokoupil in 2016. Dokopuil was filming a segment for the network and Tur noticed him onscreen from her makeup chair.
“It didn’t occur to me until midnight that night in my crappy apartment drinking a whiskey, where I was like, that was weird that they introduced me to her because that never happens. Maybe I have a shot here,” Dokoupil recalled in an interview with Esquire.
When Dokoupil took his job with CBS News, Tur was covering the 2016 election. They dated long-distance at that time, then got engaged after the campaign season ended. Tur and Dokoupil eloped in October 2017. Their wedding took place in a desert in Utah.
Before he met Tur, Dokoupil was married to his first wife, but her identity is unknown. She lives in Israel. Dokoupil converted to Judaism during their relationship.
How many children does Tony Dokoupil have?
Dokoupil has four children. He has two kids with his first wife, who live with her in Israel, and two kids with Tur. His and Tur’s son, Teddy, was born in April 2019, followed by daughter Eloise in May 2021.
Not much is known about Dokoupil’s older children, although he did reveal their ages as 11 and 14 in October 2023.
Dokoupil got a vasectomy after Eloise’s birth and opened up about the experience in 2022. Tur was the one who suggested he have the procedure after pointing out “the ways she’s had to carry the weight of prevention” during their time together.
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“She kindly reminded me of all the side effects attached to the available methods, side effects I as a man hadn’t ever really considered, because I never experienced them, not to mention the major worry of another pregnancy and what that might mean for her health and her body after two difficult deliveries,” Dokoupil revealed.
After delaying and arguing, Dokoupil caved after being assured by some friends who’d already had the procedure that it would be “easy” and “fine.” He confirmed that it was.
What happened with Tony Dokoupil and Bill Belichick?
Dokoupil interviewed former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in a now-viral interview for CBS News Sunday Morning in April 2025. He asked Belichick a question about his much younger girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, which the football coach did not want to discuss.
The question prompted Hudson, who was sitting nearby, to pop up and interject, “We’re not talking about this,” leading to an awkward moment on-camera. Dokoupil referred to Hudson as a “constant presence during the interview” in his narration.
Afterward, Belichick explained in a statement, “I clearly communicated with my publicist at Simon & Schuster that any promotional interviews I participated in would agree to focus solely on the contents of the book. Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview.”
Belichick also accused the network of suggesting a “false narrative” that “Jordon was attempting to control the conversation” by only sharing “selectively edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview.” He added that this was “simply not true.”
Meanwhile, CBS News fired back, “When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview. There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation. This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed.”
What happened with Tony Dokoupil and Ta-Nehisi Coates?
Dokoupil had another headline-making interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates in September 2024. Coates appeared on CBS Mornings to promote a book and the conversation turned to a heated discussion about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Dokoupil compared Coates’ book to “extremist” writings during the interview.
Specifically, Dokoupil told the author, “I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards, the acclaim, took the cover off the book, publishing house goes away, the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.”
After the controversial conversation aired, CBS News reprimanded Dokoupil and said the interview did not meet editorial standards, per CNN. Days later, the then-head of Paramount, Shari Redstone, said, “I think we made a mistake,” according to The Associated Press.
However, the President and CEO of CBS, George Cheeks, showed public support to CBS News boss Wendy McMahon, who initiated the higher-ups’ conversation with Dokoupil. “There has been strong and growing discord within CBS News that needed to be addressed in an editorial meeting,” Cheeks said. “This must lead to further substantive dialogue about perceptions of inconsistent treatment, implicit bias, and the important standards our News division has in place to establish guardrails for fairness and objectivity.”
CBS Evening News, Weeknights, 6:30/5:30c, CBS
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