CBS News declined to renew “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi’s contract after months of drama in which the journo accused the network’s leadership of political interference.
Alfonsi told The Post on Wednesday that her contract expired over the weekend, and the network ignored her agent’s subsequent calls about the matter.
She remains employed by CBS News on an at-will basis, people familiar with the matter told The Post, though she doesn’t expect to come back to “60 Minutes.”
“The message could not be clearer: my time at ’60 Minutes’ is apparently over,” Alfonsi said in the statement.
She accused CBS management of punishing her “for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting” and warned that the network was abandoning the program’s tradition of “fearless, independent reporting” in favor of “access journalism over accountability.”
“The wall between editorial independence and corporate interest at CBS is being methodically torn down,” Alfonsi said, adding that journalists willing to challenge authority were being “pushed aside in favor of those who will not.
“If this continues,” she added, “the result will be a broadcast that looks like ’60 Minutes’ but lacks the courage and character to produce journalism that matters.”
A source close to Alfonsi said the correspondent intends to remain at the company until HR informs her that she is fired, adding that she is still collecting a paycheck.
But a CBS insider said the network is likely paying out her vacation time or that the payment cycle has not yet closed. The person also speculated that Alfonsi’s exit would be announced among other, bigger changes at “60 Minutes,” or once the network begins its next round of layoffs in the coming weeks.
CBS declined to comment.
“What she’ll find out soon is that her building passes don’t work and her emails bounce back and then they’ll lead her out of the building,” the source said.
“This is karma. She called them bad employers and biased. She shouldn’t expect anything more from them,” the person added.
It is unusual for a network not to give notice of termination ahead of a contract expiration, a second source said, noting that if Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski had let Alfonsi know her fate, there likely wouldn’t have been multiple news articles speculating about her future.
“This has just turned into another giant PR headache,” the person said.
Alfonsi’s loss of her deal was first reported by the New York Times.
The network’s long-running television newsmagazine is on hiatus after wrapping up its most recent season.
Alfonsi’s outgoing remarks were the latest fusillade in tumult that goes back to December. That month, editor-in-chief Bari Weiss abruptly shelved the journo’s investigation about deportees to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.
At the time, Alfonsi blasted the decision internally as “political,” while Weiss insisted the reporting “was not ready” and requested last-minute editorial changes, including interviews with Trump officials.
The segment aired the following month with additional White House comments included.
Alfonsi later blew up at Weiss deputy Adam Rubenstein, accusing him of being a “mouthpiece” for the Trump administration, according to Puck News.
She decried “corporate meddling and editorial fear” earlier this month.
Her similarly outspoken “60 Minutes” colleague Scott Pelley’s job is on the line, sources previously told The Post. He reportedly said last year that Weiss “needs to take her job a little bit more seriously” if she’s going to weigh in on editorial decisions.
Weiss, who took the helm of CBS News last fall after Skydance acquired the network’s parent company, Paramount, is planning a broader shake-up at “60 Minutes.” She’s eyeing layoffs this summer that could eliminate some of the show’s top talent and producers, The Post previously reported.
