Viewers of the 79th annual Tony Awards have called for a boycott of host network CBS.
The network has been in hot water for months, after a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump ended with Paramount settling for a $16 million payout. More recently, outrage erupted when veteran journalist Scott Pelley was fired from 60 Minutes after reportedly accusing CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the top news program.
Moments after the Tonys broadcast — celebrating the best of Broadway — kicked off on CBS and Paramount+ with a massive musical number, viewers took issue with CBS for a variety of reasons and did not waste time airing them out on social media.
“I do not shock easily, however, I am shocked and appalled that you had children introduce a dancer who shook her nearly bare derrier [sic] in a side view on the Tony Awards,” one viewer wrote on X after rapper Megan Thee Stallion was introduced by a young cast member from Ragtime. “Contributing to the immorality of a minor is a felony, as it should be. Clean up your act. Boycott.”
“Oh, @CBS get with the f***ing times. You censor Megan Thee Stallion on the Tony's, but let that orange piece of s*** in the WH carry on like an imbecile,” another irate viewer wrote of the opening number as someone else chimed in: “@cbs showing open and shameful actions. I’d say shame on them, but they clearly have no sense of it. #TonyAwards.”
Someone else noticed: “Megan Thee just cursed and CBS was too late to bleep it. #TonyAwards.”
“Would have loved to be watching right now but I’m boycotting CBS!!!” another wrote about the opening number while someone agreed, “looks cool, but never tuning into @cbs ever again at this point.”
Others were less harsh, though vocal in their disdain for the network’s actions, writing: “Quite possibly the best opening ever to the #TonyAwards in my lifetime! Too bad it’s on @CBS where they have a news division run by the Trump admin.”
The strong reactions follow a flurry of controversy surrounding the network in recent days amid Pelley’s firing.
Pelley served as managing editor and anchor of 60 Minutes, and had been a correspondent for the program for 22 years. He spent 37 years at CBS News, saying in an initial statement that he leaves with “a heart brimming with gratitude.”
Following his accusations about Weiss, Pelley was sent a termination letter earlier this week by 60 Minutes’ new executive producer, Nick Bilton.
Weiss, who founded the “anti-woke” media outlet The Free Press, was appointed as the network’s editor-in-chief last October after billionaire David Ellison, who has reported ties to President Donald Trump, took over CBS’s parent company, Paramount.
The CBS News boss has faced scrutiny since being appointed, particularly over her decision to pull a 60 Minutes segment about Venezuelan migrants sent by the Trump administration to CECOT, an El Salvadoran prison accused of having inhumane conditions. The segment aired nearly one month later.
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