Fired by CBS, Scott Pelley takes parting shot at network leadership — boss responds
Scott Pelley was fired by CBS News on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after he challenged new leadership during a staff meeting and openly questioned the direction of “60 Minutes” under the network’s new management.
Confrontation leads to dismissal
Pelley, who spent 37 years at CBS, confronted newly appointed executive producer Nick Bilton during his first meeting with “60 Minutes” staff on Monday.
According to multiple reports, Pelley questioned Bilton’s qualifications for the job and accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of damaging the program. Bilton, a longtime technology journalist and filmmaker, was installed as executive producer last week after a broader shakeup inside the news division.
By Tuesday evening, Bilton informed Pelley that his employment had been terminated.
In a letter obtained by several news organizations including the Wall Street Journal, Bilton accused Pelley of turning the meeting into a personal attack.
“Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” Bilton wrote.
He also described Pelley’s conduct as a “performative display of hostility” and said repeated efforts to resolve the dispute privately had failed.
Pelley broadens his criticism
Pelley’s response after his termination made clear that his concerns extended well beyond a disagreement with Bilton.
In a statement to The Washington Post, he criticized CBS’s new leadership and accused them of abandoning the journalistic values that built “60 Minutes” into one of television’s most successful and respected news programs.
“The collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable,” Pelley wrote. “The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.”
Pelley also took a parting shot at Paramount Skydance CEO, David Ellison.
“The new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.”
Pelley alleged that network management had pressured him to include information he considered unverified and had attempted to inject political bias into coverage. He did not identify a specific story or provide additional details.
CBS has not publicly responded to those allegations. But The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr reported Wednesday morning that Weiss addressed staff about the termination.
“Despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways,” Weiss said. “We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he chose.”
Leadership changes reshape the newsroom
Pelley’s firing follows a series of rapid personnel changes at “60 Minutes.”
Last week, CBS removed executive producer Tanya Simon along with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Anderson Cooper also departed the program after the conclusion of its most recent season last month.
The shakeup reflects the direction Weiss has been pushing since taking over CBS News.
Weiss joined the network after Paramount acquired her media company, The Free Press, and later elevated her to oversee the news division. She and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski have said they want to expand “60 Minutes” beyond its traditional broadcast format and position it for audiences consuming news across multiple platforms.
Several current and former staffers have publicly questioned Weiss’s editorial decisions, arguing that changes once debated inside conference rooms are now being imposed from the top down. Others have accused management of moving too quickly and disregarding the culture that helped define the program.
Pelley’s departure removes one of the most recognizable journalists remaining at “60 Minutes.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
