`60 MINUTES' WON'T AIR COSBY-RATHER INTERVIEW.

Byline: The New York Times

Saying it would appear unseemly, CBS News executives decided on Thursday not to broadcast Dan Rather's interview with Bill Cosby on ``60 Minutes'' this Sunday.

Last Sunday, Cosby invited Rather to interview him about the Jan. 16 murder of his son, Ennis, and about Cosby's decision to return to work on his CBS sitcom, ``Cosby.''

Short portions of the 2-1/2-hour interview, including Cosby's saying he had had an extramarital affair 23 years ago, were broadcast on CBS News programs Sunday and Monday.

``We did the right thing in terms of immediately releasing the news from the interview,'' Andrew Heyward, president of CBS News, said on Thursday night after he and Don Hewitt, the ``60 Minutes'' producer, made the decision not to use the interview on the Sunday news magazine.

``It became a tabloid, feeding-frenzy kind of story,'' Heyward said, referring to the reaction to Cosby's mention of his affair with a woman whose daughter later said Cosby was her father. The woman's daughter is charged with trying to extort money from him not to publicize her story. ``We didn't see any way to avoid the perception that we were somehow adding to this hype, or somehow exploiting this tragedy.''

Heyward said Rather had been involved in the decision. ``Dan is rightly proud of the interview he did, and so am I,'' he said. ``But unfortunately, the story had taken on a life of its own, and a rather unseemly life of its own.''

Aside from the Rather interview, Cosby has not spoken publicly about his son's death or his return to work. He and his wife, Camille, issued a statement Thursday through his publicist, asking the state of California and city of Los Angeles to rescind offers of $87,500 in rewards for the capture of the murderer.

``We do not wish to see taxpayer money utilized this way,'' the statement said. ``At the same time, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks for their good intentions.''