Javier Guzman, a senior broadcast producer for “CBS Evening News,” was dismissed from his position following Wednesday’s broadcast, just days into Tony Dokoupil’s tenure as anchor, two sources familiar with the matter told TheWrap.
It’s unclear why Guzman was let go, though one source attributed the exit to disagreements with executive producer Kim Harvey rather than the show’s launch. Dokoupil is currently broadcasting his show from cities across the country on his nine-day “Live from America” tour. He will anchor Thursday’s show from Minneapolis, a day after an ICE agent in the city killed a U.S. citizen during an immigration operation.
Prior to serving as senior broadcast producer, Guzman worked as a senior producer for the evening news show for almost eight years. Before that, he worked on “CBSN: On Assignment” as a supervising producer, according to his LinkedIn.
Guzman’s firing was first reported by the Guardian. CBS News declined to comment.
The news left multiple staffers in CBS’s midtown Manhattan headquarters in New York “in tears” over Guzman’s ouster during Thursday’s editorial call and demanded answers as to why he was fired, according to one senior staffer in the room. Management did not offer a reason for the firing.
Guzman, the staffer said, was a “highly respected guy.”
This high-level exit comes after widespread criticism of Dokoupil’s takeover of the “CBS Evening News” and approach to covering the Trump administration. During his first few days as anchor, the journalist notably took a both-sides framing while commenting on the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, as opposed to condemning the violence and placing the blame on pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol.
Dokoupil also raised eyebrows with his light-hearted coverage of the memes about Secretary of State Marco Rubio taking on too many jobs, later praising the politician as “the ultimate Florida man.”
Of course, Dokoupil isn’t the only one facing scrutiny over at CBS. The October appointment of Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief sparked ample backlash, due to her lack of experience running a traditional newsroom and coming from running the right-leaning Free Press.
Weiss faced more criticism last month after spiking a “60 Minutes” segment about Venezuelans being deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador hours before it was set to air and after it was promoted widely. However, she stood by her decision in multiple comments to CBS News staff, saying the piece was just “not ready.”
“While the story presented powerful testimony of torture at CECOT, it did not advance the ball — the [New York] Times and other outlets have previously done similar work,” she wrote at the time. “The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment at this prison. To run a story on this subject two months later, we need to do more.”
CBS News has said the segment, which mistakenly and temporarily aired on Canada’s Global TV’s streaming service, will air in an upcoming “60 Minutes” episode.
