CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman is facing a bombshell sexual harassment lawsuit just as his temporary run behind the “CBS Evening News” desk has helped give the struggling network a much-needed ratings boost.

The 48-year-old journalist was sued Friday by former ABC News field producer Samira Said, who alleges Gutman made inappropriate and sexualized comments to her during two separate assignments several years ago.

Said filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, naming Gutman, ABC News and parent company The Walt Disney Co. as defendants.

The allegations against Gutman come at a particularly notable moment in his new CBS role.

While filling in for vacationing “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil, Gutman helped the program attract an average of 4.1 million viewers during the week of July 27, according to Nielsen.

That marked the show’s strongest weekly audience in 17 weeks and the first time it had surpassed 4 million viewers since late March.

But now, Gutman is at the center of a legal battle stemming from his years at ABC News.

According to Said’s lawsuit, one alleged incident occurred while she and Gutman were waiting in a public line during a work assignment.

Said claims Gutman began discussing the appearance of a female correspondent and allegedly rated her looks numerically based on her physical characteristics.

The lawsuit alleges that several other male crew members joined the conversation and attempted to get Said to participate.

She refused, telling them the discussion was inappropriate, according to the complaint.

Said alleges another incident occurred while she and Gutman were working at a press event connected to a movie release.

The pair reportedly disagreed about whether they should leave the assignment.

Gutman allegedly responded by making a sexualized remark about Said in front of several coworkers.

According to the lawsuit, Said viewed the alleged comment as demeaning and as reducing her professional judgment to a sexual stereotype.

The allegations involving Gutman are part of a much broader wrongful-termination lawsuit Said has brought against ABC.

Said says she worked as an ABC News field producer for approximately four years before being fired in 2025.

She alleges the network failed to provide appropriate accommodations while she was dealing with mental health issues, which she claims violated California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Her lawsuit also points to an especially difficult assignment in 2022, when she was sent to cover the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Said claims she was required to interview child survivors who had witnessed classmates being killed.

Following the assignment, she told a supervisor that she needed a brief leave to address her health, according to the lawsuit.

Her request was allegedly denied before a psychiatrist ultimately approved medical leave.

The complaint claims that shortly after her leave began, David Herndon, then head of ABC’s Los Angeles bureau, continued sending Said requests for assignments.

She was later assigned to cover the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025.

According to the lawsuit, roughly three weeks into that assignment, a supervisor noticed her physical condition worsening and sent her home.

Later that year, Said says she injured her foot while reporting on a weather-related story.

She reported the injury to supervisors but claims she was denied medical leave after being examined by a company physician.

Said is seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorneys’ fees.

Gutman spent 17 years working at ABC News, primarily covering stories from Los Angeles, before joining CBS News in January.

He became the first major on-air hire made by CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, who took over the division in October 2025.

The lawsuit arrives shortly after Gutman himself became the target of a sophisticated scam attempt.

In a video posted in July, Gutman revealed that he nearly fell victim to a phone scam involving a caller who claimed to work in his bank’s fraud-protection department.

The caller allegedly provided a name and badge identification and appeared to possess detailed information about Gutman’s banking activity.

The ruse was convincing enough that Gutman said he came close to going to his bank and withdrawing his money.

He ultimately realized something was wrong when the caller instructed him not to tell bank employees about the conversation.

The sexual harassment allegations in Said’s lawsuit have not been adjudicated, and the claims remain allegations at this stage.

Source: nypost.com