Bari Weiss

Weiss was married to environmental engineer Jason Kass from 2013 until their divorce in 2016. Earlier, while an undergraduate student at Columbia University, she had an on-and-off relationship with comedian and actress Kate McKinnon.

In 2018, Weiss began dating journalist and author Nellie Bowles, a former technology reporter for The New York Times who later co-founded The Free Press. Weiss and Bowles married in 2021 and have two children together.

Weiss was born on March 25, 1984, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the eldest of four daughters born to Lou and Amy Weiss. She grew up in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood and attended the Tree of Life Synagogue, where she celebrated her bat mitzvah. After graduating from Shady Side Academy, she traveled to Israel on a Nativ gap-year program, where she helped construct a medical clinic in the Negev desert and studied at a feminist yeshiva and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

She attended Columbia University, graduating in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in history. As an undergraduate, she founded the Columbia Coalition for Sudan and served as the founding editor of The Current, a campus magazine focused on politics and Jewish affairs. In 2004, Weiss and fellow students co-founded Columbians for Academic Freedom, leading a high-profile campaign accusing faculty members in Columbia's Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department of intimidating pro-Israel students. Following graduation, she completed a Bartley Fellowship at The Wall Street Journal and a Dorot Fellowship in Jerusalem.

Weiss began her editorial career with contributions to Haaretz and The Forward, and worked as senior news and politics editor at Tablet from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, she joined The Wall Street Journal as an op-ed and book review editor.

In 2017, Weiss moved to The New York Times as an op-ed staff editor and writer covering culture and politics. During her time there, she published pieces on campus politics, cultural appropriation, and the Me Too movement. Her May 2018 article profiling thinkers including Eric Weinstein popularized the label Intellectual Dark Web. In 2019, she published the book How to Fight Anti-Semitism, examining modern antisemitism across the political spectrum.

Weiss resigned from The New York Times in July 2020, publishing an open resignation letter that cited a hostile newsroom culture and organizational deference to social-media pressure. In the letter, she wrote that "Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times, but Twitter has become its ultimate editor."

In January 2021, Weiss launched an independent newsletter titled Common Sense, which expanded into the digital media company The Free Press, accompanied by her podcast Honestly. That same year, she became involved in the founding of the University of Austin, a private institution in Texas announced through her publication.

During her independent career, Weiss received several industry honors, including the Reason Foundation's 2018 Bastiat Prize, the Los Angeles Press Club's 2021 Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism, and the 2023 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism for her work on the Twitter Files.

In October 2025, Paramount Skydance acquired The Free Press and appointed Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News, reporting to Skydance chief executive David Ellison. The move placed her in charge of the network's national news operations.

Her tenure included selecting Tony Dokoupil as the new anchor of the CBS Evening News and implementing leadership changes across the division. In late 2025, she delayed the broadcast of a 60 Minutes report regarding El Salvador's CECOT detention center to request additional reporting. In mid-2026, Weiss reorganized 60 Minutes leadership, appointing Nick Bilton as executive producer and departing with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, and Scott Pelley.