Bari Weiss’s UCLA Lecture Cancelled Over Alleged Trump Administration ‘Alignment’ on Migrant Crisis

In October 2025, CBS owners appointed Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief, an appointment that has drawn considerable controversy. Weiss quickly became a prominent figure at CBS News, though her influence appears disproportionate to the network’s on-air content.

Weiss canceled an upcoming UCLA lecture—the Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture—due to anticipated student protests. The Daily Bruin reported that a petition for cancellation gathered nearly 11,000 signatures.

The petition, sponsored by Code Pink, claimed Weiss has recently aligned herself with the Trump administration by covering up the practice of ICE agents sending Venezuelan migrants to a torture center in El Salvador.

Weiss delayed airing an anti-Trump story, but it aired without changes in Sharyn Alfonsi’s report. The petition concluded: “Weiss is unpopular with the American people because of her deeply biased and opportunistic reporting, and our academic institutions must stop platforming someone who is a mouthpiece for the White House.”

The recent on-air content of CBS News does not align with these allegations. Critics have suggested that the cancellation stems from Weiss’s Jewish identity and support for Israel.

Margaret Peters, associate director of the Burkle Center for International Relations, stated she planned to resign if UCLA followed through with the lecture in any capacity, including via Zoom. Peters claimed Weiss “used the guise of free speech” to attack individuals on the left.

Peters added: “To invite somebody who is working against that mission in highly powerful places just seems like anathema in the university mission.”

The CBS security team expressed concerns about Weiss’s safety at the UCLA event, recalling similar incidents involving “anti-trans” speakers at universities. For example, in 2023, a speaker named Riley Gaines was slapped and trapped by agitators at San Francisco State University.

This situation is especially ironic given that Daniel Pearl, a Jewish journalist killed by al-Qaida in 2003, is honored annually at UCLA. Prominent journalists such as Jake Tapper and Bob Woodward have spoken safely at past Daniel Pearl Memorial events, but Weiss has been described as beyond the pale for her stance on Palestinian issues.

Many universities have become intolerant of opposing viewpoints, particularly after Hamas’ October 7 attacks in Gaza. Students and professors who oppose Israel have deployed their influence to silence critics of the genocide.

The cancellation has not been widely criticized within “mainstream” media, which is often perceived as defending free speech when it is intolerant of dissenting views.