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Norah O’Donnell is officially out as co-host of CBS’s struggling morning show — thanks to Gayle King.
The new anchor lineup for “CBS This Morning” has been set and it doesn’t include O’Donnell because King — riding high off her big interview with R. Kelly — has demanded she be sent elsewhere, The Post has learned.
“Norah is toxic,” a CBS insider said, explaining that the anchor is difficult to work with and is seen as having aided rumors about the impending exit of Jeff Glor, anchor of “CBS Evening News,” in her bid for his job.
The blood is so bad between the morning news co-hosts that King demanded O’Donnell be moved off the show as part of her recent contract negotiations, which kicked off after her now-infamous Kelly interview, the source said.
O’Donnell is still a coveted name at CBS, however, and has been offered a “monster anchor” job that includes a chief political anchor role at the network in addition to Glor’s job as anchor of “CBS Evening News,” The Post has learned. She will also continue to appear on “60 Minutes,” a source said.
Glor, who has struggled to improve on the show’s third-place ranking, will likely be offered a correspondent or weekend anchor role, the source said.
CBS News president Susan Zirinsky denied that King had anything to do with O’Donnell leaving the morning show, which has fallen in the ratings since Charlie Rose was ousted over sexual harassment claims in 2017.
“This headline is offensive and 100 percent false,” Zirinsky said of The Post’s reporting.
“There’s no bad blood between Norah and Gayle, in fact they are very close,” a person close to O’Donnell insisted. He said King was at O’Donnell’s “intimate” birthday party a few weeks ago and will be introducing her at the Matrix Awards in Manhattan on Monday.
“They are close friends,” this person said.
Besides King, the new morning show lineup includes “CBS This Morning Saturday” co-anchor Anthony Mason and CBS News correspondents Tony Dokoupil, a source said.
“CBS This Morning” co-host John Dickerson will move to “60 Minutes” in a political role.
O’Donnell’s new contract is inked but not signed as of this report due to her demands for “Gayle King money,” a source said.
Meanwhile, King has succeeded in her demands for her pay to be bumped to more than double her current $5.5 million salary, sources said.
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SOURCE: Page Six – Alexandra Steigrad
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