Scott Pelley is not leaving CBS quietly. The longtime ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent was fired after nearly four decades at the network following a heated staff meeting with the show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton.
The clash reportedly erupted during Bilton’s introductory meeting, where Pelley questioned his broadcast experience and accused new CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of damaging the legendary news program.
According to a recording cited in reports, Bilton pushed back hard. “I have been a journalist for 25 years, Scott,” Bilton said. “I’ve sat across from incredibly powerful people like you have, and none of it intimidates me.”
Pelley kept pressing. He asked about the recent firings of correspondents Sharon Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, along with the removal of senior leadership in what he called “Black Thursday.” Hours later, he was out.
Pelley Says ‘60 Minutes’ Lost Its DNA
Bilton fired Pelley through a memo, accusing him of turning the staff meeting into an ambush.
“You hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” Bilton wrote. He said Pelley showed “no interest” in helping the show move forward and said his “antipathy to the future of the show” had come through clearly.
Pelley answered with a blistering statement of his own.
“There has never been anything in America like ‘60 Minutes,’” he wrote, calling it “the most successful program of any kind in history.” Then he accused new ownership of casting the show aside “apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.” “The waste is heartbreaking,” Pelley said.
Pelley Claims Political Pressure Changed The Show
Pelley said the program “lost its DNA” when its senior leadership and two on-air correspondents were fired.
He accused management of silencing people who stood up for fairness and professionalism. He also claimed new management had instructed him to include “falsehoods and bias” in a politically sensitive story. “To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them,” Pelley said.
He also claimed politicians were being allowed to choose which correspondents interviewed them. “Giving politicians control over ‘60 Minutes’ interviews is not how this is done,” he said.
CBS Leadership Defends The Firing
Weiss later addressed the firing in an editorial call, saying newsroom trust had been broken. “We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he chose,” she said.
CBS News president Tom Cibrowski praised Pelley’s long career and said he would remain part of CBS history.
Pelley rejected Weiss’s account. He said no one tried to “find a way back” during the meeting where he was fired. “Firing was raised by Cibrowski in the first 15 seconds,” Pelley said. He accused Weiss, Cibrowski, and Bilton of refusing to answer questions and misleading staff.
For CBS, this is now much bigger than one firing. A legendary reporter is accusing the network’s new leadership of gutting ‘60 Minutes’ from the inside. And he is making sure the exit hurts.
