CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil is the subject of a scathing Vanity Fair article, where unnamed current and former colleagues deliver harsh criticisms. The piece, written by Aidan McLaughlin and published Thursday, paints a picture of an anchor who secured his position amid the perceived Trumpification of the network under conservative Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss.
Ratings and Scrutiny
Since taking over CBS Evening News in January, Dokoupil has seen modest rating improvements over predecessors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson. However, recent figures show a decline, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The scrutiny of his performance appears unrelenting, as evidenced by the Vanity Fair exposé.
Damning Remarks from Colleagues
One current CBS correspondent described Dokoupil as "deeply lacking in self-awareness." A former producer who worked closely with him added: "You just have to be good eye candy, and he was good eye candy. Tony has the biggest case of imposter syndrome out of any anchor or correspondent I’ve ever worked with. And they’re filled with it, because they’re all full of vanity. But Tony knows he wasn’t ready for the chair."
Another correspondent claimed Dokoupil was not Weiss's first choice: "He very much was not Bari’s first choice. He must have been her seventh or eighth choice, because nobody would take the fucking job. I mean, she wanted Bret Baier. She wanted Anderson Cooper. She wanted a name, and she does not see Tony Dokoupil as a name. A useful idiot for sure, but not a name."
A CBS journalist criticized a segment on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying: "This is what happens when you get somebody who’s only ever worked on a morning show, where he just thinks, ‘Oh yeah, why don’t we dedicate two minutes of this 19-minute broadcast to glazing Marco fucking Rubio?’" The segment ended with Dokoupil saying: "Marco Rubio, we salute you. You are the ultimate Florida man."
The article also notes Dokoupil's shaky first newscast, where he dealt with technical glitches, and his description of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address as "extraordinary."
CBS Defends Dokoupil
In response, CBS issued a statement to Vanity Fair calling Dokoupil an "exceptional talent" and dismissing the criticisms as "old and false rumors." The network added: "While Vanity Fair’s unnamed sources continue to peddle old and false rumors, that won’t stop Tony and his team from doing what they do best: reporting the news and telling the truth."
