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Ousted CBS News journalist Debora Patta — whose interview with Mike Huckabee on Gaza landed her in a controversy months before she got laid off this week — is looking to sue the network, The Post has learned
The South Africa-based foreign correspondent is “speaking to lawyers” after CBS News slashed her job just months after she came under fire from Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, who claimed an Aug. 7 interview he gave her was heavily edited and misrepresented his views on the situation in Gaza.
Patta’s exit was part of a round of roughly 100 cuts orchestrated by CBS News president Tom Cibrowski. Sources speculated that the network’s new editor in chief Bari Weiss, who’s known for her staunchly pro-Israel views, played a role in the decision to ax the 61-year-old reporter.
Patta signed a new three-year contract in August, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, who added that CBS is not giving her a full payout.
A former CBS staffer said the network may not have an obligation to do so. That depends on what her contract stipulates — which may make a breach-of-contract claim unlikely.
“She is probably looking to sue over her Middle East coverage,” the person said.
CBS News declined to comment. Patta did not return multiple requests for comment.
It’s unclear whether David Ellison, CEO of CBS News parent Paramount Skydance, played a role in Patta’s firing. He previously voiced a commitment to unbiased journalism to Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr — a condition for the agency to OK this past summer’s $8 billion merger between Skydance and Paramount.
Both Carr and President Trump have accused CBS News of liberal bias. In July, the network paid $16 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit accusing CBS News of “deceptively” editing a “60 Minutes” interview to make his 2024 opponent Kamala Harris look better.
Huckabee put Patta on blast when he accused CBS News of intentionally editing his four-minute sitdown with her to craft a “different story than the one they had.” The former Arkansas governor claimed on X on Aug. 8 that his comments on reports of starvation in Gaza were misrepresented.
“Ever wonder how the media edits an interview to give you a different story than the one they had?” Huckabee wrote.
He then added a link to the full transcript on the US embassy website, showing what was edited out of the CBS News interview. For instance, Patta asked Huckabee whether he is “deeply troubled by images of starving children.” Huckabee replied, “I’m moved when the photos are verified.”
In the unedited exchange, Huckabee answered: “I’m moved when the photos are verified. I mean, we’re all moved when you see someone, especially a child who’s starving. But the New York Times published a picture on the front page of what was purported to be a starving child. Turns out the child had a birth defect and had not been starving.”
He continued: “There were other pictures, for example, that were published of starving children in Gaza. Turned out one of them was from Yemen. One was from 2017. There was another photo that appeared to be somewhat staged, with photographer all set up to get pictures of a few people herded into a small area.”
The interview closed with Patta asking Huckabee about claims that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
“If Israel is attempting genocide, they’re really, really bad at it. They could have had genocide on October the 8th,” Huckabee said in the aired piece.
In the full exchange, he said: “They could have dropped a few bombs and have annihilated all Gazans, it’s not that big an area. They certainly had the capacity to do it, and saw that in the 12-day war with Iran. It is the most ridiculous thing in the world to say that Israel is committing genocide. That’s absurd. On its face, it’s absurd. If they were trying to commit genocide, it would not have taken them 22 months.”
Still, Patta’s exit after 12 years at CBS News came as a shock inside the network.
“Top CBS News executives were appalled by the decision,” a source said, noting that the hard-charging Patta has reported in conflict zones including Syria and Ukraine, in addition to the Israel-Hamas war.
Patta has also led many of the network’s best investigations in recent years, the person added.
Her exit leaves a gaping hole as many correspondents in Europe “refuse” to set foot in conflict zones, the person said.
“It will be very challenging to cover the news,” the source added.
