CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman sued over alleged sexual harassment

Matt Gutman, a chief correspondent at CBS News, is facing a lawsuit filed by former ABC News field producer Samira Said. The complaint alleges two separate incidents in which Gutman made inappropriate comments toward Said while they worked together at ABC. In the first incident, Said says Gutman initiated a discussion that reduced a female correspondent’s appearance to a numerical score, and other male colleagues asked Said for input, which she declined. The second incident, occurring at a press event for a film, involved Gutman allegedly suggesting that Said wanted an after-hours date, implying she did not want to relocate for professional reasons. Said’s attorneys argue the remarks demeaned her and reduced her professional judgment to a sexual stereotype.

Said also names her former employer, The Walt Disney Company, as a defendant, claiming she was wrongfully terminated in 2025 after dealing with mental-health challenges. Neither CBS News nor ABC News responded to requests for comment.

Gutman, who joined CBS in January, has recently gained visibility, filling in for CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil and achieving a week-long viewership average of 4.1 million, the highest for the program in 17 weeks. He also serves as a fill-in anchor for flagship broadcasts and contributes to "48 Hours" and "60 Minutes."

"I have worked with Matt for decades, and I have seen his innate ability to take viewers into a story," said CBS News President and Executive Editor Tom Cibrowski.

"I am thrilled to join the team with Bari Weiss and Tom Cibrowski at the helm," Gutman said in a statement, adding that his mission is to "give a voice to those who might otherwise not be heard, and to tell it straight."

The lawsuit adds to Gutman's prior disciplinary history at ABC, where he was suspended twice for unrelated incidents involving false statements after Kobe Bryant’s death and a COVID-19 safety violation.