CBS News terminated veteran correspondent Scott Pelley from 60 Minutes following a heated confrontation with the newsmagazine's newly appointed executive producer Nick Bilton. The firing occurred after a tense Monday morning staff meeting where Pelley clashed with network management over recent personnel decisions.
The conflict centered on layoffs announced the previous Thursday, when CBS News dismissed the show's executive producer, executive editor, and two correspondents including Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega without providing specific reasons. During the Monday meeting, Pelley directly criticized Bari Weiss, the network's editor-in-chief who joined in October. "She's murdering 60 Minutes," Pelley said, according to reporting from the Guardian. "She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that."
Weiss and other executives attempted to meet with Pelley after the Thursday layoffs, but he was unavailable. When they finally met on Tuesday, Weiss informed Pelley that his behavior during the Monday meeting was inappropriate. Later that evening, Bilton sent Pelley a termination message stating he had been fired "for cause effective immediately." Bilton referenced Pelley's conduct at the meeting, writing that Pelley had "hijacked" the gathering to "disparage" him and his qualifications "with remarkable incivility and contempt."
Pelley responded to his termination with a public statement accusing CBS News executives of silencing employees and instructing him "to inject falsehoods and bias" into his reporting. He claimed the network pushed unverified claims and gave politicians influence over interviews.
The firing represents a significant shake-up for 60 Minutes, television's longest-running and most respected newsmagazine. Pelley joined CBS News in 1989 and served as chief White House correspondent and anchor of the CBS Evening News from 2011 to 2017. He had been with the 60 Minutes franchise since 1999.
With journalist Anderson Cooper departing earlier this year, Pelley's exit leaves 60 Minutes with only three full-time correspondents heading into its 59th season: Lesley Stahl, who joined CBS in 1971; Bill Whitaker, who arrived in 1984; and L Jon Wertheim. Norah O'Donnell, a former evening news anchor, contributes to the show. The network indicated it would rely more heavily on correspondents from across its division, though no new contributors were immediately named.
The termination has raised concerns about potential staff backlash and whether other veteran correspondents might exit the program. Rome Hartman, a longtime 60 Minutes producer who retired recently, praised Pelley as "among the all-time greats of CBS News" and criticized the decision to fire him for pushing back aggressively during a meeting, noting the irony given Weiss's company positioning against cancel culture.