CBS News Fires Scott Pelley

Scott Pelley, a longtime anchor for “60 Minutes,” was dismissed on Tuesday following a dispute with CBS News management.

Nick Bilton, the new executive producer of the well-known CBS News program, terminated Pelley, citing Pelley’s refusal to “find a path forward together,” according to a post by Puck News journalist Dylan Byers.

The termination email noted, “Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear.”

Bilton informed staff of Pelley’s departure in a message acquired by CNN.

Bilton expressed in the message, “I know how much Scott meant to many of you, and I don’t say this lightly. I made repeated attempts to have direct conversations with him over the weekend, and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. That was not the path Scott chose.”

He added, “What I regret most is that this situation interfered with the conversation I had hoped to have with you about Season 59 and the future of this show. I realize this is a great deal of change in a very short time, and I wouldn’t pretend otherwise.”

Pelley told the New York Times on Tuesday that he still cared deeply about the show.

In comments to the Times following his firing, Pelley said, “I have been in combat in Afghanistan. I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.”

CNN reported that Pelley was initially scheduled for vacation on Tuesday but was instead summoned to a meeting with Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, Bilton, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski, and a human resources representative.

With a career at CBS News spanning over thirty years, Pelley criticized Weiss and the newly appointed head of “60 Minutes” during a tense all-hands meeting on Monday.

During that meeting, Pelley reportedly commented on Weiss’s role, stating, “She’s murdering ‘60 Minutes.’ She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”

He also mentioned to the Times that in a meeting on Tuesday, Weiss refused to answer his questions about several colleagues’ firings, describing her actions as “cold and callous and beneath the dignity of CBS News.”

Prior to his dismissal, Pelley told the Times he had been under pressure to include bias in his “60 Minutes” stories this season.

He remarked, “The collapse of values at the top has become untenable.”

On Tuesday evening, Pelley elaborated on his concerns, highlighting that politicians were now able to select correspondents for interviews.

Regarding the network’s management approach, he stated, “The new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration,” as reported by he said regarding. “The waste is heartbreaking.”

Bari Weiss, who previously worked as an opinion columnist and founded The Free Press, assumed the role of editor-in-chief in October. Her leadership has seen numerous “60 Minutes” employees either leave or be dismissed.

In May, Weiss appointed tech journalist Nick Bilton, who has no prior experience in broadcast news, to replace executive producer Tanya Simon.

During an all-hands meeting, Bilton began reading an introduction from his phone, but Pelley interrupted to address the recent firings of executive producers and correspondents.

When Bilton proposed a private conversation away from the newsroom, Pelley declined, preferring to speak in front of his colleagues.

Bilton pointed out that they’re “my colleagues too.”

Pelley reportedly responded, “That remains to be seen.”

Pelley received applause multiple times from other staffers during the meeting, as reported by applauded multiple times.

Bilton described the situation as an “ambush” in his termination email to Pelley.

He stated, “Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt. Yesterday’s performative display of hostility — enacted in front of the staff instead of in a civil, private conversation — demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show, or approaching my new tenure with a mind open to collaboration and progress.”

Bill Owens, a previous top executive producer who exited “60 Minutes” in April citing a lack of editorial independence, supported Pelley’s criticism of Bilton and Weiss.

While receiving a “Truth to Power Award” from the New York City Press Club, Owens commented to Dateline, “I couldn’t be prouder of him, and I know all the people at ‘60 Minutes’ couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Pelley’s dismissal also follows a letter sent by current and former CBS News staffers to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, cautioning that the “wholesale dismissal of editorial management, without a public pledge to maintain the values, standards, and traditions of this program, puts the legacy of ‘60 Minutes’ in jeopardy.”