CBS News has terminated Scott Pelley, a veteran correspondent at 60 Minutes, following a heated confrontation with the network's new leadership. The firing marks a dramatic escalation in management changes at the long-running news program.
The conflict centered on sweeping staff cuts announced the previous week. On Thursday, CBS News management terminated the show's executive producer, executive editor, and two correspondents, Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, without publicly explaining the reasons. During a heated staff meeting Monday morning with newly appointed executive editor Nick Bilton and other executives, Pelley directly attacked Bari Weiss, the network's editor-in-chief who joined in October.
"She's murdering 60 Minutes," Pelley said at the meeting. "She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that."
CBS executives attempted to meet with Pelley after the initial terminations, but he did not engage. By Tuesday, Pelley met with Weiss and other executives, who conveyed that his conduct was inappropriate. That evening, Bilton sent Pelley a message terminating him for cause, citing his behavior in the meeting.
"Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt," Bilton wrote.
Pelley subsequently issued a public statement accusing CBS News executives of silencing employees and instructing him "to inject falsehoods and bias" into his reporting. He wrote that 60 Minutes has been the top program in America because audiences "find integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories."
Pelley's departure creates significant uncertainty for the program. With journalist Anderson Cooper announcing earlier this year that he would leave the show, 60 Minutes now has only three full-time correspondents heading into its 59th season: Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and L Jon Wertheim. Norah O'Donnell contributes occasionally.
The timing compounds existing tensions at the network. Days before his firing, Pelley publicly praised Alfonsi at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards, hours after she announced her contract would not be renewed. He also praised an 18-year-old scholarship recipient who said the current leadership "stains the legacy of Mike Wallace," the legendary 60 Minutes correspondent.
Pelley joined CBS News in 1989 and anchored the CBS Evening News from 2011 to 2017 before focusing on 60 Minutes reporting. His career included work as chief White House correspondent and international reporting assignments.
The dismissal highlights broader tensions about editorial direction and management philosophy under Weiss, whose appointment has proven controversial within CBS News ranks. As the network rebuilds its correspondent roster, industry observers are watching to see whether other veteran journalists will remain with the program.