Exclusive | ADL defends anchor Tony Dokoupil after CBS News claims anchor had ‘ax to grind’ in tense interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates on Israel

A prominent Jewish civil rights group has come to the defense of Tony Dokoupil after the CBS Mornings anchor’s bosses revealed he had an “axe to grind” during his scathing interview with controversial author Ta-Nehisi Coates. The Post has learned.

Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, contacted CBS News chief Wendy McMahon on Monday only after it was reported that Dokoupil had been reprimanded for his interview with Coates last week, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Insiders said the move to discipline Dokoupil followed an investigation by the network’s diversity and inclusion department. Some CBS employees also complained to their bosses that his questioning of Coates was too biased in favor of Israel, the sources said.

In response, CBS brass concluded that Dokoupil’s question showed he had an “ax to grind” and did not “set aside his personal feelings and beliefs,” according to a leaked recording of an editorial meeting.

Now, the ADL is worried that Dokoupil could lose his job because of Coates’ push for his leftist views on Israel in his latest book. Ali Zelenko, the ADL’s senior vice president for external affairs, was scheduled to speak with McMahon on Tuesday, according to sources.

In an interview with The Post, Greenblatt confirmed that he spoke with McMahon on Monday and made clear the organization’s position: that Dokoupil did nothing wrong in challenging Coates’ “biased” views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I just wanted to know what mistake Dokoupil made in questioning Coates’ conclusions,” Greenblatt added. “And we’re continuing to ask those questions.”

Greenblatt said he also told McMahon that it is “very insensitive” to berate Dokoupil in a company-wide setting, especially on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre.

Greenblatt declined to comment on McMahon’s response, saying the conversation was off the record.

Press officials for CBS and its parent Paramount Global did not return multiple phone calls and emails for comment.

Also looking for answers will be CBS’ new owners, the independent studio known as Skydance, run by David Ellison, known for producing the mega-hit “Top Gun: Maverick,” The Post has learned.

Ellison’s team recently reached an agreement with CBS parent Paramount and the controlling Redstone family to take over the company. The deal, worth $28 billion, is scheduled to close next year.

Ellison’s father is Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who helped finance the transaction along with private equity firm RedBird Capital. The right-leaning billionaire is also a longtime supporter of Israel and a friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Jeff Shell, a RedBird partner and former head of NBCU, will head CBS and has been briefed on the indiscretions involving Dokoupil, the sources said.

A spokeswoman for SkyDance had no comment.

Last Monday on “CBS Mornings,” Dokoupil, who is Jewish, asked Coates about the conclusion in his new book, “The Message,” that Israel is a state “built on ethnocracy” and “apartheid.”

During the interview, Dokoupil also asked Coates if the Palestinians deserve any blame for the ongoing conflict including the October 7 massacre.

Coates, who is black, is a Pulitzer Prize winner known for his controversial writings on racial issues, including calls for reparations for slavery.

Critics of “The Message” have denounced the book as a poor study of the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have claimed that it essentially calls for the elimination of the Jewish state.