CBS Rejected Live Elon Musk Interview Because They ‘Couldn’t Control It’ Catherine Herridge [WATCH]

Catherine Herridge said executives at CBS News declined an opportunity to conduct a live interview with Elon Musk during coverage related to the Twitter files, citing concerns about content control, editing, and platform ownership.

Herridge described the internal discussions while speaking with reporters, explaining that the opportunity emerged as she was communicating with journalists connected to the Twitter files.

“I had conversations with some of the reporters connected to the Twitter files, and I was in my head thinking that there might be an opportunity to tell that story on CBS News,” Herridge said.

She said several topics were discussed internally and that the conversations ultimately led to the possibility of interviewing Musk, whom she described as one of the most influential figures in the world.

“We had a number of topics under discussion. They didn’t go as far as we had hoped, but at the end of the day, this opportunity to interview Elon Musk was developing,” Herridge said.

According to Herridge, Musk expressed interest in doing the interview live and on his own platform. She brought the proposal directly to network leadership.

“So I went to the CBS executives, and I said, this is the the opportunity that we have,” Herridge said.

“He’s saying, I want to do it live, and on my platform, it’s he’s one of the most influential human beings on the planet.”

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Herridge said the response from executives was immediate and dismissive of the live format.

“And the reaction from the executives was, well, we can’t do it live,” she said.

“I was like, What do you mean? We can’t do it life’s like, well, we don’t know what he’s going what he’s gonna say.”

She said she pushed back, questioning the logic behind the decision.

“I was like, what I think, isn’t that the point of journalism? You don’t know what the person’s gonna say,” Herridge said.

Herridge said CBS executives insisted the interview would need to be recorded, edited, and distributed exclusively on the network’s platform.

“Well, you know, we have to, it has to be taped. We have to have the ability to edit. It has to be on our platform. We have to control the platform,” she said.

She said alternative formats were briefly discussed, including a joint broadcast.

“We talked at one point about whether we could do it sort of like a simulcast between the streaming network and maybe X, but everything just got shut down,” Herridge said.

Herridge described the interview opportunity as historic and said the network’s refusal left her conflicted.

“It’s one of the biggest interviews you could ever have,” she said.

She said she ultimately chose not to return to Musk with the conditions imposed by the network, explaining that doing so would have conflicted with Musk’s stated commitment to free expression.

“I felt so ashamed, frankly, that I never went back to Elon Musk and said, Listen, they want to do it, but they’ve set all these conditions on it,” Herridge said.

“I couldn’t do that.”

Herridge said she believed the conditions contradicted the principles Musk publicly supports.

“This is someone whose DNA is free speech,” she said.

“And how do you tell someone who’s committed to free speech that your network can only do it taped and only if they edit it, and it can only be on their platform?”

She concluded by saying she could not bring herself to make that proposal.

“I just, I couldn’t go back to him with that,” Herridge said.

WATCH:

🇺🇸 CATHERINE HERRIDGE: CBS WALKED AWAY FROM ELON BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T CONTROL HIM

Catherine revealed CBS passed on what could have been one of the biggest interviews in modern media, not because Elon refused, but because the network did.

She said discussions were underway… https://t.co/iQq7l3lZeF pic.twitter.com/2825WQ3YoI

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 2, 2026