UCLA has canceled an upcoming lecture featuring CBS News chief Bari Weiss.
Naomi Weiss had been invited to deliver the annual Daniel Pearl Memorial lecture on February 27th, focusing on “The Future of Journalism.” However, the university announced that the event will not take place as planned because Ms. Weiss and her team have withdrawn.
According to someone with knowledge of the UCLA program, the lecture was called off because of security worries raised by the speaker, even though the university offered to increase security for the event. The Daniel Pearl Memorial lecture is a prestigious annual event honoring the late journalist and is the highlight of UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations. Past speakers have included well-known journalists such as Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, and Bob Woodward.
Sources indicate that many staff members at both the Burkle Center and the International Institute didn’t want Weiss to speak at the university. A significant student protest was also anticipated.
Neither Weiss nor CBS immediately responded to a request for comment.
Bari Weiss started The Free Press, a media company that Paramount, the owner of CBS, bought for $150 million in October. After the purchase, Weiss became the editor-in-chief of CBS News.
As a film and TV enthusiast, I remember when Les Moonves’ successor, Bob Bakish, made a really controversial call just two months into the job. He pulled an episode of “60 Minutes” that was investigating claims of abuse against people the U.S. had deported to a prison in El Salvador. It caused a huge uproar – people were really upset and accused him of killing the story for political reasons. It felt like a major blow to investigative journalism, honestly.
The cancellation of the UCLA lecture happens while CBS is facing internal challenges. This week, the network gained attention due to a growing dispute with Stephen Colbert, its late-night host, stemming from the FCC’s push to more strictly enforce rules requiring equal airtime for political candidates.
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2026-02-19 04:01