A former producer for CBS News has accused the network of conducting layoffs based on race following significant job cuts by parent company Paramount. Trey Sherman, who is Black, expressed his feelings in a TikTok video, revealing, “I just got fired from my job at CBS, and all the producers on the team I was part of were people of color.” He pointed out that the remaining staff appeared to be predominantly white.
According to his LinkedIn, Sherman had been with CBS producing content for “CBS Evening News+” and the CBS Race & Culture unit, both of which were cut during the layoffs that eliminated nearly 1,000 positions across the company.
Sherman recounted that he believed he and his colleagues had all been let go, only to find that the people fired were exclusively those of color. He asked his white co-workers if they were being laid off and received consistent “no” responses. This led him to confront a supervisor, whom he accused of lying, saying he couldn’t believe it was just a coincidence that all the remaining staff were white.
In a twist, an anonymous executive told Sherman he was keeping certain employees—ones he had worked with—completely disregarding merit in the process. Sherman found this reasoning troubling, pointing out that if decisions led to a racially biased outcome, regardless of intent, then it could be seen as a racist act.
Neither Sherman, CBS News, nor Paramount has provided comments regarding these allegations.
Details also emerged about Paramount’s broader company restructuring, which included the disbanding of several CBS divisions. Many workers involved in weekend and livestream programming were notably affected, highlighting the significant impact of these leadership changes under CEO David Ellison. This restructuring comes as Ellison welcomed Bari Weiss as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News, part of a larger movement after the merger with Skydance Media.
Additionally, CBS Evening News co-anchor John Dickerson announced his intention to leave the network at the year’s end, pointing to ongoing shifts within the organization.
