Legendary CBS exec Bill Owens has announced he is leaving 60 Minutes after ‘losing his journalistic independence.’

Owens, 58, had been the executive producer of the CBS newsmagazine since 2019, but told staff in a memo Tuesday that ‘over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it.’

A copy of a memo was obtained by The New York Times, as CBS continues to field a lawsuit filed by the president centered around the once-prestigious program.

In the memo Owens – who started at CBS as a summer intern in 1988 – complained about being rendered unable ‘to make independent decisions based on what was right for “60 Minutes,” right for the audience.’

‘So, having defended this show – and what we stand for – from every angle, over time with everything I could,’ he continued. ‘I am stepping aside so the show can move forward.’

Owens – a respected figure who recently helped overhaul CBS’s Evening News – went on to promise that ’60 Minutes will continue to cover the new administration,’ and ‘future’ ones as well. 

‘The show is too important to the country,’ Owens ultimately declared, weeks after sources told DailyMail.com how the bigwig was ‘feeling the pressure’ brought by the Trump lawsuit.

He reportedly added during a ’60 Minutes’ staff meeting on Tuesday: ‘It’s clear the company is done with me.’

‘It has to continue, just not with me as the executive producer,’ Owens said of the show, being one of just three EPs to oversee it in its 57-year history.

‘Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,’ he wrote earlier on.

‘So, having defended this show – and what we stand for – from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward.

‘[It] is too important to the country,’ he continued, before mentioning how the news magazine made it through other similar shifts in leadership

‘We [survived],’ he said. ‘You will.

’60 Minutes will continue to cover the new administration, as we will report on future administrations,’ Owens went on, promising that his successors will ocntinue to report from War zones, investigate injustices and educate our audience. 

‘In short, 60 Minutes will do what it has done for 57 years,’ he concluded, mentioning how he has been with the network for ’37 years – more than half of that at 60 Minutes.’

‘I have been shot at and threatened with jail for protecting a source,’ he revealed, while rattling off other important achievements.

‘I have overseen more than 600 stories as Executive Producer of 60. I know who I am and what I have done to cover the most important stories of our time under difficult conditions. 

‘I am also proud to have hired the next generation of correspondents.

‘Thank you all, remain focused on the moment, our audience deserves it,’ he finished.

The revelation – aired two months after a round of layoffs that saw 20 CBS News staffers provided pink slips – was particularly profound, as reports continue to indicate some dissent amongst execs at CBS and its parent Paramount.

Just last month, an insider familiar with the situation told DailyMail.com how CBS  is under serious pressure from not only the administration but also [the network’s billionaire owner] Shari Redstone‘ to settle the suit.

A former CBS exec further told the Mail how Owens’ decision for anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson to co-host CBS Evening News was being viewed ‘as a disaster’ internally. 

‘[CBS Evenings Executive Producer] Bill Owens is also overstretched,’ they said at the time, echoing the other exec’s opinion.

This deviation from tradition was also accompanied by another high-profile exit – the sudden ‘resignation’ of CBS President of Editorial and Newsgathering Adrienne Roark after just seven months in the role.

At the time, a source familiar with the matter claimed that Roark had actually been forced out – after being caught shopping for a new job by her boss, CBS News and Stations CEO Wendy McMahon.

McMahon – who along with Owens is CBS’s most powerful C-Suiter – became aware of the unsanctioned search and retaliated, the insider said. Both she and Owens are now said to be unwilling to bow to Trump’s suit.

Paramount heiress Shari Redstone, however, seemingly is – according to remarks reportedly made over lunch Monday by Warner Bros’ David Zaslav, ex-Sony chief Howard Stringer, and other big wigs, as reported by Status.

The summit of media all-stars at Michael’s in Manhattan – which also included retired Washington Post writer Richard Cohen and The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta – saw the quartet speak openly about about Redstone’s attempts to settle the suit.

She wants to save a still-in-limbo deal that will see Paramount and its properties go to David Ellison-backed Skydance – a package that will secure the former some $8billion.

Redstone, the daughter of late Viacom mogul Sumner, stands to make a pretty penny herself.

The deal, however, requires federal approval – specifically from Brendan Carr’s FCC. 

Carr, being an outspoken Trump ally, continues to scrutinize the activities of not only CBS, but ABC, NBC, NPR, and PBS as well.

Carr last week accused NPC parent Comcast of ‘distorting’ the news after its subsidiary NBC News pedaled a different narrative about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the administration, likely fueling Owens’ concerns.

 Also last month, insiders told Status how both Owens and McMahon are ‘disillusioned’ by their scandal-stained, soon-to-be boss should the Skydance deal go through –  former NBCU exec Jeff Shell.

Now a senior exec at Skydance, Shell called a meeting with the CBS News chief – whom a source recently told DailyMail.com is in over her head in her role – and the then 60 Minutes boss in October, asking they send Trump a transcript of the segment that spurred the suit.

At the time, Trump had just began criticizing both ’60 Minutes’ and CBS over the interview in question – one featuring Kamala Harris that aired earlier in the month.

Trump’s complaints – that the interview was purposely edited to give the progressive an edge –  ultimately gave way to the lawsuit, but before that, Shell sought to placate the president by adhering to the request to send over the transcript.

The idea of sending an olive branch to Trump was quickly shot down by both Owens and McMahon, those familiar with the matter told Status.

Not only that, the request left both execs irked, insiders said, citing the fact that the Skydance deal had – and still has – yet to be fully ironed out.

In the months since, as a July deadline for the deal to be inked looms, pressure from Shell and Redstone has not only continued, but worsened, sources said at the time.

Speaking to Status, staffers described a dynamic that’s camps seen camps of staffers steadily forming, with some backing Owens and McMahon, and others those at Skydance.   

The billionaire software scion actively trying to acquire CBS’s parent, Larry Ellison’s son David Ellison, was seen sitting with Trump at UFC 314 Saturday – leading staffers this week to claim the summit serves as a poor omen for the network future.

One such employee told Status the summit serves as proof those set to lead CBS are already willing to bow to the president – something Owens and McMahon have made clear they are against.

Privately, the pair have also described feeling astonished, alarmed, and increasingly disillusioned by the interference, sources spilled – with some claiming McMahon’s relationship with her prospective boss is already deteriorating. 

Shell, on the other hand, has reportedly made clear to both McMahon and Owens privately that they need to get on board with a settlement and such an admission – an ultimatum that spawned frustration, staffers told Status last month.

It also apparently paved the way for the decision seen from Owens today, as both he and McMahon continue to insist that CBS News did nothing wrong with its handling of the interview – a stance that has reportedly received some backing from staffers.

Many are expressing alarm at the notion of surrendering to what they view as a senseless lawsuit, insiders told Status – adding how both Owens and McMahon believe bowing down to Trump would be a betrayal of the newsroom’s principles.

Shell, meanwhile, has reportedly suggested that a settlement would only be a temporary setback – even if a statement of wrongdoing is included.   

A now viral photo, meanwhile, shows the unlikely meetup between Ellison – whose dad is a well-known Trump supporter in Miami, after which the latter issued a scathing critique of both CBS and 60 Minutes yet again on Truth Social.

It also made waves within CBS’s newsroom, with a source telling Status of the widely seen summit: ‘It’s dejecting for reporters and producers to see one day before the president attacks “60 Minutes” – again – for doing accurate and fair journalism.

‘Anyone who believed Ellison might be a breath of fresh air after [Shari] Redstone and have the backbone to run a principled news organization is feeling pretty naïve today.’

As for the possibility of a settlement, one insider told Puck Monday it would be ‘a really odious pill [for CBS] swallow.’ 

Another said Trump may force the network to issue a public apology, with another industry vet adding, ‘I think [Trump] hates CBS and 60 Minutes more than he likes Larry Ellison’ – the latter being a well-known Trump supporter.

‘I’m not sure this deal can close.’

McMahon, meanwhile, responded to word of Owen’s resignation in a separate note to staff – in which she said she remains ‘committed’ to the show despite Owens’ departure.

‘The mission and the work remain our priority,’ she said – as insiders also said last month McMahon will likely lose her job before the Skydance deal goes through.

Owens, in his statement, thanked McMahon for ‘always [having the 60 Minutes teams’] back.’

‘She agrees that 60 Minutes needs to be run by a 60 Minute producer,’ he said.