CBS To Host Town Hall For Charlie Kirk's Widow, Newsroom Rips 'Bonkers' Decision

By Chris Spiker From Daily Voice

CBS News will broadcast a primetime discussion with the widow of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, a move critics have blasted as a sign of the network's conservative pivot since the controversial Paramount Skydance merger.

"A Town Hall With Erika Kirk" will air on CBS at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, the network announced in a news release on Thursday, Dec. 4. The one-hour event will be available for streaming afterward on Paramount+, along with CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7.

The town hall will be filmed in front of a studio audience at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 10, in New York City. According to CBS, Erika Kirk will take questions from "young evangelicals, prominent religious leaders, and figures across the political spectrum."

Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at an event on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Sept. 10. The suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Washington, Utah, is charged with murder, and his next court appearance is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Erika Kirk's town hall will mark the first on-air appearance for Bari Weiss, the discussion's moderator, since she was hired as editor-in-chief for CBS News in early October.

"Like so many people around the world, I will never forget the moment that Erika Kirk forgave her husband's killer," Weiss said in a statement. "I am eager to speak to her – and thrilled to be doing so in front of a group of Americans who I know will elevate the conversation."

Critics say CBS has taken a conservative shift since Paramount and Skydance Media merged in August. The newly formed media conglomerate also purchased Weiss' "anti-woke" online outlet called The Free Press when appointing her as editor-in-chief.

CBS said the discussion will focus on Erika Kirk's career and the death of her husband, the conservative media provocateur who founded Turning Point USA.

"Three months after her husband was assassinated, Erika Kirk will open up about life, loss, the state of political discourse, and much more," CBS said in its news release.

The decision to give a large platform to Erika Kirk, who became Turning Point's CEO after her husband's death, has been heavily panned inside CBS.

"How embarrassing," a CBS staffer told The Independent. "Bari's been Editor-in-Chief for five seconds and has revealed that all she really wants is to be on TV herself."

A reporter at CBS also blasted the Erika Kirk primetime special as "bonkers."

"We've been told nothing about this officially," the reporter said. "No emails or press release or anything. It's absolutely absurd."

The employees also suggested that Weiss is using her position "to be on TV, not make it."

"It doesn't get more toe-curling than this," the staffer said. "[Paramount Skydance CEO] David Ellison must be mortified by his $150 million investment in someone who's so quickly revealed themselves to be the most shallow, least interesting person in TV news."

The town hall will preempt the previously scheduled broadcast of the 28th annual Family Film and TV Awards, which will be moved to Saturday, Dec. 20. The discussion will also air about an hour after CBS ends its coverage of the Army-Navy college football game.

The Independent obtained an unpublicized sign-up form that posed several questions to attendees. Potential guests were asked whether they consider themselves to be conservative, if they're "grieving the loss of a loved one," and if they're evangelical Christians.

The town hall backlash comes toward the end of a very turbulent year for CBS News. Paramount Skydance was widely criticized for how it handled the $8.4 billion deal under political pressure from President Donald Trump.

The Federal Communications Commission approved the merger just weeks after Paramount reached a $16 million settlement with Trump. He had filed a lawsuit that accused "60 Minutes" of deceptively editing an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris before the 2024 Presidential election.

Many legal analysts described Trump's lawsuit as frivolous. CEO David Ellison is also the son of Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison.

Weiss has said she wants to reshape CBS News, a highly respected legacy media organization for decades.

The Pittsburgh native has fueled internal scrutiny at the "Tiffany Network" for pushing her strong support for Israel's occupation of Gaza. Despite describing herself as a "radical centrist" and "classical liberal," Weiss has backed many conservative causes in her time as a writer and podcaster.

At a Jewish Leadership Conference appearance in November, Weiss said she wants CBS to serve what she calls the "75%" of Americans on the "center-left and center-right." As an example, she pointed to a Free Press debate that she once moderated between two conservatives: former National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch and Alan Dershowitz, a former defense lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein and Trump.

Weiss said she hopes to appeal to people who "still believe in equality of opportunity."

"The goal of what we're trying to do at CBS is to get back to that normalcy, and I feel incredibly energized and enthusiastic, because I think that is where the vast majority of Americans actually are," she said.

Amid Weiss' rise to power at CBS News, Paramount Skydance has slashed up to 2,000 jobs in several rounds of layoffs. The highest-profile departures include "CBS Evening News" co-anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson, who took over the flagship newscast in January.

Critics argue that the Erika Kirk town hall is another example of the rightward drift at CBS News, along with a way to "whitewash" Charlie Kirk's rhetoric. The 31-year-old's campus events drew massive boycotts and protests as Turning Point USA aimed to mobilize younger voters for the Republican Party.

Charlie Kirk had a long record of inflammatory comments in his time as a media personality. The Illinois native once said that "some gun deaths" are worth protecting the Second Amendment, argued that it was a "huge mistake" to pass the Civil Rights Act, and promoted the debunked and racist "great replacement theory," which claims that undocumented immigrants are coming to the US to replace white Americans.

On his podcast, Charlie Kirk also leaned into attacks on affirmative action. In one viral clip, he questioned the qualifications of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Charlie Kirk referenced them as part of his broader anti-affirmative action stance, implying that Black women lack intelligence.

"You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously," he said. "You had to go steal a white person's slot to be taken somewhat seriously."

After Charlie Kirk's killing, several people lost their jobs or were disciplined for their commentary. MSNBC contributor Matthew Dowd and Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah were among the most prominent figures to be fired.

Weeks after her husband's death, Erika Kirk has been mocked by many online for her increase in public appearances. In late October, the former Miss Arizona USA was jeered for a lingering hug she shared onstage with Vice President JD Vance at a Turning Point event at the University of Mississippi.

On the Megyn Kelly Live show, Erika Kirk denounced rumors that she was romantically involved with Vance.

"Whoever is hating on a hug needs a hug themselves," she said, laughing at the speculation. "I will give you a free hug any time you want a hug. My love language is touch, if you will."

Erika and Charlie Kirk got married in May 2022 and had two children together.