Entertainment TV Dan Rather Will Return to CBS News for First Time in 18 Years The former anchor was fired from the network in 2006 after a controversial '60 Minutes II' report on President George W. Bush By Brendan Le Brendan Le Brendan Le is an Editorial Intern at PEOPLE with three years of experience working as an editor and writer. People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 25, 2024 08:37PM EDT Close Dan Rather on Nov. 5, 2019. Photo: Santiago Felipe/Getty Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather is making a return to the network. PEOPLE can confirm that Rather, 92, is set to be interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning 18 years after his controversial exit. According to a description of the April 25 episode of news program, “Lee Cowan talks with former CBS News anchor Dan Rather about his work at CBS and his life in news.” The journalist has maintained that his ousting was a result of being scapegoated for the fallout from a 60 Minutes II report in 2004 on allegations that President George W. Bush went AWOL during part of his time in the Texas Air National Guard. The Bush administration disputed the authenticity of the documents cited in the story, leading to an investigation that concluded the piece disregarded “fundamental journalistic principles.” The documents were not, however, ever proved to be forgeries. Dan Rather Remembers the 'Toughest' Goodbyes to His Children and Wife: 'You May Not Come Back' (Exclusive) Rather’s reputation suffered following the dispute, and he was removed from the anchor desk in 2005 before being fired the subsequent year. Producer Mary Mapes and three news executives were also let go from CBS after their involvement with the story. The controversy, dubbed “Rathergate,” was dramatized in the 2015 film Truth starring Cate Blanchett as Mapes and Robert Redford as Rather. According to The Associated Press, CBS refused to run advertising for the movie, which was based off of Mapes’ memoir Truth and Duty. Dan Rather anchors his last 'CBS Evening News' broadcast on March 9, 2005. John Paul Filo/CBS via Getty Dan Rather Recalls How a Scary Home Invasion He Believes Was Connected to Watergate 'Changed My Perspective' (Exclusive) “It’s astounding how little truth there is in Truth,” CBS spokesman Gil Schwartz — who was chief spokesman during that 2004 scandal — told The AP prior to its opening day. “There are, in fact, too many distortions, evasions and baseless conspiracy theories to enumerate them all. The film tries to turn gross errors of journalism and judgment into acts of heroism and martyrdom." Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in December 2015, Rather still stood by the report. “We reported a true story. We didn’t do it perfectly,” the former anchor said. “We made some mistakes of getting to the truth. But that didn’t change the truth of what we reported.” He claimed that “partisan political forces and ideological forces who found this a very inconvenient story” attacked the weak points of the story to avoid the hard facts and “change the conversation.” “The corporate entity caved,” Rather told THR. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories. CBS Sunday Morning airs Sundays at 9 a.m. ET on CBS.