There has been a lot of backlash against Tony Dokoupil since he became the anchor of CBS Evening News last week. This is because he cried on air during a Miami segment about his father’s drug-dealing past. On her podcast, Megyn Kelly criticized the moment, saying, “There’s no crying in evening news,” and questioning his suitability for the role during the network’s rebranding. Ratings went up a little, but critics said the emotional display was unprofessional for a show that used to be hosted by Walter Cronkite.
CBS fired Javier Guzman, the second producer, right after Wednesday’s broadcast. This made the newscast’s shaky start under Dokoupil even worse. Executive producer Kim Harvey is still in charge, but sources say Guzman was accused of hurting the team during the relaunch. The newsroom is shocked by the firing, especially since Dokoupil is covering high-stakes events like the U.S. operation in Venezuela.
Megyn Kelly, a former host of Fox News, went off on Dokoupil, making fun of his tears and linking them to bigger questions about CBS’s efforts to turn things around. She said that emotional displays should only happen in very rare situations, like the assassination of a president, not in personal stories. Kelly’s comments make the online mocking of Dokoupil’s “MAGA-coded” style and rocky promos admitting media trust issues even worse.
