CBS’s Bari Weiss pulls out of UCLA lecture

UCLA has canceled an upcoming lecture featuring CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.

Weiss was scheduled to give the annual Daniel Pearl Memorial lecture on Feb. 27 about “The Future of Journalism.” But according to the university, the program will not move forward as scheduled, after Weiss’ team withdrew from the event.

A source familiar with the UCLA program said the lecture was canceled because of security concerns from Weiss, despite the public university offering to obtain additional security for the event, the source said. The Daniel Pearl Memorial lecture series honors the late journalist and is considered the capstone of the university’s Burkle Center for International Relations. Previous speakers include journalists Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper and Bob Woodward.

According to the source, several employees at the Burkle Center and the International Institute expressed opposition to Weiss speaking on campus. The university was also expecting a large number of students to protest the event.

Neither Weiss nor CBS immediately responded to a request for comment.

Weiss founded the media company the Free Press, which was purchased in October by Paramount, CBS’ parent company. Following the $150-million purchase, Weiss was installed as editor-in-chief of CBS News.

Two months after taking on the new role, Weiss made the widely panned decision to pull a “60 Minutes” episode that examined the alleged abuse of deportees sent from the U.S. to an El Salvador prison. The decision earned Weiss heavy criticism and accusations that the move was politically motivated.

The canceled UCLA lecture comes at a time of ongoing organizational upheaval at CBS, which this week made headlines amid an escalating battle with its own late-night talk host, Stephen Colbert, over the FCC’s effort to enact stricter enforcement of the equal-time rule.