CBS News fired longtime 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, a day after he allegedly said Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss was and accused its new producer of having 鈥渟lender qualifications鈥� for the job. The move deepened the turmoil at the nation’s most influential TV news program and the news unit that oversees it.
Pelley had criticized the program’s leadership during a meeting Monday between the show鈥檚 staff and Nick Bilton, the new executive producer named by Weiss last week, according to a detailed report on the
In a termination notice obtained Tuesday night by The Associated Press, Bilton, a former technology journalist and filmmaker with no traditional broadcast news experience, accused Pelley of carrying out an 鈥渁mbush鈥� against him.
鈥淵esterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,鈥� the letter states.
Pelley is accused of a 鈥榩erformative display of hostility鈥�
Pelley鈥檚 agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. But Dylan Byers, a senior correspondent for Puck who covers the media, posted that quoted the former CBS News anchor as saying he had been asked to undertake questionable journalism that involved 鈥渇alsehoods and bias.鈥�
“I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion 鈥� a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again,” the statement quoted Pelley as saying.
Status, which said it had heard a recording of the Monday meeting, reported that Pelley grilled Bilton about the firings last week of Bilton鈥檚 predecessor, Tanya Simon, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. He also allegedly said that Weiss, who was not present at the meeting, was brought in to kill the news outlet, “and she鈥檚 doing exactly that.鈥�
In the dismissal letter late Tuesday, Bilton said Pelley鈥檚 鈥減erformative display of hostility鈥� demonstrated that he has 鈥渘o interest in contributing to the future success of the show.鈥�
It has been an uneasy stretch for CBS News
Since Weiss took over the network’s news operation last year, it has traveled a bumpy road.
Pelley’s termination came just five days after Weiss, who has become a polarizing figure in the media world since taking the reins at CBS last October, told staff in a memo that it was time for a 鈥渘ew approach鈥� at the top-rated newsmagazine.
In the memo, Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski said their goal for 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� was 鈥渂uilding a show that thrives in the 21st century.鈥�
鈥�60 Minutes鈥� first aired in 1968 and is the longest-running prime-time show in TV history. Its investigative journalism and probing interviews, sometimes with unwilling subjects, have given it the reputation of uncompromising journalism 鈥� precisely the trait that Pelley said he feared was under assault.
Pelley started working for CBS in 1989. He was its chief White House Correspondent from 1997 to 1999, during Bill Clinton’s presidency, and anchored 鈥淐BS Evening News鈥� from 2011 to 2017.
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