Bari Weiss’ New CBS News Hire Admits Fears Over Her Leadership

Bari Weiss‘ tumultuous first year as CBS News editor-in-chief has caused so much unease that even an employee she hired herself has admitted to fears that the whole thing could “crash and burn.”

Trevor Phillips, a former British politician and host on the U.K.’s Sky News, was handpicked by Weiss to join CBS News as senior global affairs correspondent. Speaking with the Daily Telegraph before starting his new role, Phillips was forthright when asked about the “walkouts, firings, and bitter infighting” that have plagued the Paramount-owned network.

“Bari and her team have a huge tanker of a network news organization to turn around, and they are assembling a little team on the bridge,” he told the outlet. “The great thing about her is that she’s one of those people who will either change the world or crash and burn. But when they crash and burn, it’s in technicolor.”

Despite the potential for Weiss to “crash and burn,” Phillips said he is excited to move across the pond and begin his new role. “You know, I’m 72. It’s a great adventure,” he stated. “And who turns down adventures if someone is willing to take a chance on you?”

Phillips comes with his own baggage and controversies, having faced backlash in the past for allegedly Islamophobic comments and for defending an associate of Jeffrey Epstein.

He joins other new hires, including Sebastian Junger, a writer; Gianna Toboni, a former VICE correspondent; and Ross Douthat, a right-wing New York Times columnist with no reporting background and limited on-camera experience.

Weiss has faced criticism for attempting to transform CBS News into a more MAGA-friendly network, including killing stories that were critical of the Trump administration. In May, she fired 60 Minutes producers Draggan Mihailovich and Tanya Simon and correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi.

After longtime correspondent Scott Pelley spoke out against Weiss and the firings during a heated staff meeting, he, too, was dismissed.

Phillips told The Telegraph that he doesn’t agree with this sentiment that Weiss is trying to turn the network ‘anti-woke.’ He said, “In the U.S., the controversy has been framed as, ‘CBS News is becoming anti-woke’. But that’s not what Bari is about. She has her own views, some of which I’m sympathetic to, some of which I’m not, but her point is that the media should be heterodox. There should be a variety of voices.”