CBS Evening News Airs Wrong Footage Amid Production Turmoil

During the Friday East-Coast broadcast of CBS Evening News, anchor Tony Dokoupil introduced a segment on President Donald Trump’s possible pardon of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. The piece mistakenly included B-roll of Kanye West, who had attended Combs’ federal trial the previous year. The error was corrected for the West-Coast airing and removed from CBS’s digital platforms later that day.

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The incident follows CBS’s January relaunch of the evening program, which placed Dokoupil in the anchor chair under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Earlier this summer, the network’s live Fourth of July primetime special from Washington, D.C., was disrupted by severe weather, prompting an evacuation of the National Mall. CBS later removed the special from Paramount+ and CBS.com, citing licensing agreements.

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Multiple insiders described the mishap as evidence of broader production strain. One source said the newsroom was “drinking from a fire hose. This sort of thing should not happen. Where is the quality control?” Another labeled the network’s response to the weather evacuation as “amateur hour.” A staff member lamented, “It would have been better if they said nothing. We knew it was sh-t.” An additional insider characterized the news division as “a rudderless ship.”

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CBS declined direct comment on the footage error. A network source framed it as a “one-off error” with “nothing to do with short staffing.” A CBS spokesperson rejected criticism of the July special, stating, “This is nonsense. Despite the weather evacuation, our exceptional team never missed a step. We seamlessly activated our pre-planned weather contingencies to deliver great coverage for our audience.” The spokesperson also highlighted the program’s second-quarter ratings growth as evidence of overall performance.

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• “one-off error” that had “nothing to do with short staffing.” — CBS source

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• “They are drinking from a fire hose. This sort of thing should not happen. Where is the quality control?” — CBS source

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• “amateur hour,” — CBS insider

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• “It would have been better if they said nothing. We knew it was sh-t,” — CBS staffer

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• “This is nonsense. Despite the weather evacuation, our exceptional team never missed a step. We seamlessly activated our pre-planned weather contingencies to deliver great coverage for our audience.” — CBS spokesperson

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• “a rudderless ship,” — CBS insider

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