Bill, as you’ll recall, is the irascible 60 Minutes veteran who effectively acted as the news division’s spiritual and editorial leader during its chaotic chapter before Shari Redstone’s sale of Paramount. Owens oversaw 60 Minutes while it was facing that $10 billion lawsuit from Trump over a relatively innocuous edit to a Kamala Harris interview. Shari, who was mortally preoccupied with getting the deal through, put pressure on Bill and CBS News C.E.O. Wendy McMahon to offer an official apology along with the network’s settlement, and started taking greater interest in reviewing programming before it went to air. After one particularly controversial 60 Minutes package on Gaza, Shari also asked CBS TV chair George Cheeks to bring in network veteran Susan Zirinsky to oversee standards, which Bill took as an infringement on his jurisdiction.

Bill and Wendy developed something of a trauma bond during this time, according to sources in their inner circle. Wendy, a career stations operator with little experience in news, leaned on Bill for his editorial expertise and expanded his remit to include Evening News, while also following his lead on how to respond to their corporate overlords. As pressure from the front office increased, the two defiantly cast themselves as a bulwark against corporate interference—right up until April of last year, when Bill resigned.

As part of Bill’s separation agreement, I’m told, Paramount agreed to honor the remaining years of Bill’s multimillion-dollar contract, which it is still paying out on an annual basis. At the same time, Bill was required to sign a non-disparagement agreement, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. And yet, on multiple occasions since leaving CBS, Bill has been a vocal critic of Paramount leadership and Bari herself. Last month, while accepting an award from the New York Press Club, he referred to Bari as “a fraud” and “an ideologue.”

More notably, Bill has written a book proposal for a tell-all memoir about his time at CBS News. In the proposal, which was first obtained by Breaker’s Lachlan Cartwright, Bill accused Shari of surrendering to political pressures and destroying CBS through catastrophic leadership, alleged that corporate executives systematically interfered with the editorial independence of 60 Minutes, contended that senior management abandoned journalism in favor of merger politics, and attacked David and Bari for politicizing CBS News. He referred to Bari as “an opinion writer who has made a name for herself by having a lot of opinions.”

The revelation of Bill’s book proposal raised eyebrows up and down the Paramount and CBS org chart, I’m told, especially in light of the terms of his separation agreement. I’m also told that Cheeks and the network’s lawyers have at least considered the possibility of taking legal action against Bill over the book, though no formal steps have been taken. Spokespeople for both Paramount and CBS declined to comment. Bill, meanwhile, declined to engage on the record.

Presumably, Bill is smart enough to understand the nuances of his separation agreement and know what he can get away with saying without risking those multimillion-dollar payouts. Though one wonders exactly what he will have to say. Shari’s attempt to gain greater oversight of 60 Minutes resulted in the return of a network veteran, Zirinsky, who in turn appointed a producer, Al Ortiz, to screen each package, continuing a practice that has been in place at 60 Minutes for decades. By all accounts, Susan and Al had a very light touch. That hardly reads like systematic editorial interference, but maybe Bill’s keeping his best material for the book. Alternatively, like Pelley, his revenge media strategy could backfire—making him largely only a victim of his own imagination.