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60 Minutes: Scott Pelley Fired for Speaking Out Against CBS News Moves

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley was fired after an exchange with EP Nick Bilton over changes with the show and within CBS News.

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Article Summary

  • 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley was fired after clashing with new EP Nick Bilton over CBS News changes.
  • At a tense staff meeting, Pelley blasted CBS News leadership and warned 60 Minutes was being weakened from within.
  • The shake-up followed major 60 Minutes cuts, including the exits of Tanya Simon, Draggan Mihailovich, and others.
  • A reported letter from Bilton said Scott Pelley’s outspoken opposition sealed his immediate exit from 60 Minutes.

On Monday, new EP Nick Bilton (with CBS News Managing Editor Charles Forelle joining him) introduced himself to CBS News' 60 Minutes staff. The meeting did not go well, with longtime correspondent Scott Pelley making his feelings known on a number of issues, including his view of CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss as "murdering" the show, how Bilton wasn't qualified for his position, and how the new regime is looking to weaken the network's journalistic integrity and standards. The meeting came amid a wave of layoffs and expected changes at the long-running news magazine, including the firings of Executive Producer Tanya Simon, Executive Editor Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Earlier today, reports surfaced that Pelley met with Bilton and other CBS News officials, but the two sides could not reach an agreement on how to move forward. On Tuesday night, a decision was made to fire Pelley from the long-running news magazine.

60 Minutes
Image: CBS News

"Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear. And I have heard you. I therefore write on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately," Bilton wrote in a letter to Pelley, which you can check out below:

According to a report from The New York Times, based on an audio recording of the meeting it obtained, Bilton sought to lay out his vision for 60 Minutes. In addition, he attempted to shut down rumors that the news magazine was "going to be like TikTok," adding, "The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now." But when Bilton reportedly claimed that Weiss "loves '60 Minutes,'" Pelley responded, "She is murdering '60 Minutes.' She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she's been doing exactly that."

Pelley continued, "She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job. The changes that she's made at the 'Evening News' have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?" Pelley was referencing CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil, Weiss' choice to lead the network's evening news and serve as the face of CBS News. In terms of viewers, Dokoupil's run on CBS Evening News has pulled in numbers below what the previous anchors brought in (and only recently breaking the 4 million viewers average, a bar considered by many in the industry as the sign of a news show's success or failure).

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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