Newly installed CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss was surrounded by a phalanx of six bodyguards described as “beefy” and “chiseled” as she attended a media shindig in New York City on Tuesday, according to a report.
Weiss was among the dignitaries who was invited to a conference put on at the New York Historical Society by private equity giant RedBird Capital, according to Breaker News.
The 41-year-old co-founder of The Free Press, who recently sold her newsletter to Paramount Skydance for a reported $150 million, seemed to be in good spirits as she entered the venue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Weiss was photographed by Breaker News as she was surrounded by a protective detail that formed a “ring” around the new CBS News boss – including one bodyguard who was described as having “chiseled looks” and a “buff physique” reminiscent of Hollywood hunk Hugh Jackman.
Another one of Weiss’s protectors had “Enrique Inglesias’s looks,” according to Breaker News.
Weiss has been spotted at CBS News headquarters with bodyguards, though it is unclear if all six that were protecting her during this event were also alongside her at the network’s Manhattan offices, according to the newsletter.
The Post has sought comment from CBS News and corporate parent Paramount Skydance.
Weiss was among those who attended this year’s annual RedBird Capital General Meeting at the New York Historical Society.
The A-list attendees also included NBA Commissioner Adam Silver; PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp; WME’s Mark Shapiro; Jon Kelly of Puck News; Weiss’s boss, Paramount Skydance President Jeff Shell; Paramount TV chief George Cheeks; and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who delivered the keynote.
RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale highlighted his expanding media empire and AI ventures, according to the report.
The crowd also included executives from The Telegraph, Daily Mail and Air Mail, with panels focused on media disruption, athlete branding and Paramount’s turnaround under RedBird’s ownership.
Cardinale’s private equity firm invested between $1.8 billion and $2 billion as part of Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global.
By dint of its investment, RedBird Capital owns approximately 22.5% of the newly merged company.
David Ellison, the Skydance boss, holds around 50% of voting control and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, owns 27.5%.
Weiss’s first weeks as head of CBS News have been marked by internal upheaval and culture shock inside the newsroom.
At a tense meeting with “60 Minutes” staff last week, Weiss reportedly startled producers by bluntly asking why Americans view the program as biased.
Weiss, who has no TV background, was brought in by David Ellison to make CBS “rigorous” and “fact-based,” but her push for change has met resistance.
The former New York Times opinion editor has complained about leaks, demanded accountability from staff and urged producers to book high-profile political figures, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jared Kushner.
Within days of Weiss taking over, CBS News’s longtime standards chief Claudia Milne exited, the first senior casualty of the new regime.
The newsroom remains on edge as employees brace for more shake-ups, including a round of layoffs that is expected within days.
