CBS News Correspondent Matt Gutman Dropped From ABC Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman has been dropped from a wrongful termination lawsuit in which a former ABC co-worker, Samira Said, alleged that he made sexually inappropriate comments.

On September 4, the Los Angeles Times reported that Said, a former field producer for ABC News, filed a request to drop Gutman from her lawsuit. Said’s lawyers did not explain the reason for the move. However, both ABC and The Walt Disney Co. remain as defendants in the lawsuit, filed on August 14 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Gutman, 48 — CBS News’ chief correspondent who recently filled in as the anchor of CBS Evening News — worked at ABC from 2008 to December 2025. Meanwhile, Said was with ABC from 2021 to March 2025.

In her lawsuit, Said initially said that she was “placed on a male-only team including on-air correspondent Matt Gutman” and two other male crew members.

“While the team waited in a public queue during the assignment, Gutman initiated a discussion rating a female correspondent’s appearance and reducing her professional standing to a numerical score based on her physical attributes,” the document alleged. “The male crew joined in, continuing to assess the woman’s body and looks in Said’s presence. The men attempted to draw Said into the conversation by soliciting her views. Said declined and stated the conversation was inappropriate.”

During another alleged incident, Said claimed that Gutman “disagreed about whether the team should leave the work site” while at a press event for a film release.

The lawsuit also claimed, “In front of multiple coworkers, Gutman responded by making a sexualized insinuation that Said must have an after-hours date in the city and that this is why she did not want to relocate. The remark, made audibly to others, demeaned Said and reduced her professional judgment to a sexualized stereotype.”

As of writing, Gutman has not publicly commented on the lawsuit. TV Insider reached out to ABC and CBS, but did not immediately hear back.