A former CBS News producer, Trey Sherman, has gone viral on TikTok by accusing the network of racially discriminatory layoffs amid a significant round of staff reductions at Paramount. In a now widely shared video, Sherman revealed that every Black colleague on his team was laid off, while White staff members were instead relocated within the company. The claim has sparked intense debate, with Sherman asserting that the network’s decision to retain only White employees was rooted in a racial bias. This comes as Paramount, under new leadership with CEO David Ellison, has announced it will cut approximately 1,000 jobs, triggering massive staff reductions across the company. These layoffs have hit manyCBS staff involved in weekend and livestream programming, with notable departures, including CBS Evening News co-anchor John Dickerson, who announced his exit from the network.
Sherman, who is Black, served as an associate producer for the CBS streaming program ‘CBS Evening News+’ since February, according to his LinkedIn page, and also worked as an associate producer for the CBS Race & Culture Unit, both of which were gutted as part of the layoffs. Sherman claimed the ‘executive’ who informed him he was being laid off said he did everything he could to relocate staff but ultimately couldn’t.