Broadcaster-turned-podcaster Megyn Kelly lambasted the new guy in the CBS News anchor chair this week, questioning his masculinity and worthiness of being an anchor at the network as it undergoes massive changes and remains rattled after a recent high-profile firing.
Tony Dokoupil, 45, leveled up from CBS Mornings host to become the new anchor of CBS Evening News, where legendary on-air personalities like Douglas Edwards, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Connie Chung and Katie Couric have fed the nation its news. While reviews of Dokoupil, whose ratings were up slightly for the program, were mixed, he received the full force of Kelly’s ire on The Megyn Kelly Show podcast over airing a segment about his hometown of Miami, in which he tears up.
“There might be some crying when a president is shot and assassinated right before your very eyes,” the former Fox News anchor informed her listeners. “There was, like, a wiping of the eyes as he took off his glasses. But that was as far as he went, and that’s as far as most evening news anchors ever would have gone, traditionally.”
Kelly also attempted to emasculate Dokoupi on her show, after referencing fellow conservative podcaster Adam Corolla’s recent statements on newsroom trends as more women enter the once male-dominated field of journalism.
“You want to talk about ‘feminization of the newsroom,’ I give you the new CBS evening news anchor,” the onetime network news star told listeners and guest Mark Halperin, the ex-political director for ABC News who left the network news world amid # MeToo-era sexual harassment complaints.
Kelly aired the segment on her podcast, which involved Dokoupi heading back to his hometown of Miami and discussing his childhood there and his abrupt departure, which was related to his father’s drug dealing. He explained that he gets emotional because this all makes it hard to return to Miami.
“Oh my god,” Kelly exclaimed as the segment played out. “I thought for sure that story was going to end in… ‘and they were all killed in a house fire. I was the sole survivor,’ in which case I would’ve excused the multiple tears. Turns out the dad had some problems. I’m sorry to hear it. The sobbing, the repeated voice quivering, the inability to recover, what is that?!”
Halperin then replied that this is not a segment that should have gone to air.
“I cry when I talk about my family sometimes. But I wouldn’t put it out. My point is, it wasn’t live. They chose to put it out,” he said.
By all accounts, Dokoupi has had a tough first week in his new high-profile gig. He faced criticism from inside and outside CBS’s newsroom for a rare interview with cabinet secretary Pete Hegseth that many deemed to be too softball, for using a private jet to fly across the country on a promotional tour and for fumbling a transition to a segment.
Fear and malaise have gripped the newsroom among staff who watch on as the storied network slides into a MAGA-centric, pro-Trump administration under the leadership of Bari Weiss, the anti-woke millennial founder of The Free Press; Paramount CEO David Ellison purchased Weiss’ site for $150 million and installed her in a leadership role at the network.
Weiss may be besting Dokoupi in new job snafus: she faced massive criticism for a letter she wrote to staff demanding to know what happened over a last-minute removal of a fully cleared segment on the El Salvador prison where Venezuelan migrants captured by ICE were held, and has been accused of bowing to the Trump administration.
Even more drama unfolded on Wednesday evening at the network when the first major head rolled under the news organization’s new leadership.
Javier Guzman, the well-respected top producer of CBS Evening News, was “dismissed” after Wednesday evening’s show, with no clear explanation given to staff for his departure. Guzman was six months into the role but had been with the network on the show since 2017 as a producer.
A former CBS News staffer who has no direct knowledge of the firing but who worked for years with Guzman spoke with The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday. They suggested that because “Guzman had been brought up by an earlier regime, abiding by any of journalism’s unofficial rules could be seen as undermining or insubordination.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to CBS News and Guzman for comment, but calls were not immediately returned.
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