CBS News top editor slams boss at goodbye party

CBS News London bureau chief Andy Clarke had some choice words for his boss Neeraj Khemlani at his going-away party Wednesday in London.

According to a source who attended the party, Clarke said he was leaving the network after 38 years because the news bureau needed a head “who respected the leader of the organization” — in an apparent slap at CBS News president Khemlani.

Clarke had clashed with Khemlani, the network’s co-president, over whether to rescue Afghan journalists and fixers who worked with CBS from the chaos-ridden country last year, as previously reported by The Post. Sources recently told The Post that at issue was a $750,000 sum that Clarke needed to get the Afghans out.

The haggling over the funds with his penny-pinching boss, Khemlani, was the last straw for the editor — who quit.

In response to a query from The Post, a CBS rep said: There have been no cuts to resources or requests denied out of Afghanistan. We are in investment mode. Whether it’s growing the number of employees, which is up year-over-year, or creating more inventory across our shows for international reporting, or working with an outside firm to build a tech solution that will help our newsgathering.”

The going-away party this week was held at the Reform Club, a hoity-toity private club in central London, where about 100 colleagues attended, including CBS foreign correspondents Charlie D’Agata and Liz Palmer. And CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward, who used to work at CBS.

The party was emceed by CBS News senior foreign correspondent Mark Phillips and was likely paid for by CBS’ London bureau, a source said — noting that it was skimpy on food and beverage.

“There were passed hors d’oeuvres, but not much food. There was also beer and wine and some champagne flutes,” the spy added.  

Clarke’s departure from the network has brought about an outcry of support for the journalist.

Earlier this week, Clarke circulated a goodbye memo obtained by The Post, in which he wrote he “never thought it would come to this- goodbye.”

“It’s been thirty-eight, largely enjoyable years, but I know my time is over. When I resigned in January the clouds of war were gathering over Ukraine, but a fighting war wasn’t on the horizon,” Clarke wrote. “Now, as I leave the war rages. I salute my brave and dedicated friends who are covering it. What you ALL do is important: keep telling the crucial stories of our time; keep championing the underdogs; keep fighting to get your story on the air; fight for those extra fifteen seconds because your story might just change the world of the voiceless. Above all, keep everyone safe while you go about your journalism.”

After the email was sent out, a source said quite a few CBS News staffers replied to all — thanking Clarke. One of the reply-alls was from national correspondent Vladimir Duthiers, who wrote: “You’re one of my journalism heroes. Thank you so much for leading our efforts to tell those crucial stories, championing those underdogs, holding truth to power and shining a light on the dark corners of some of most important stories of our times.”