CBS News fired longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, a day after a heated staff meeting with the program's new executive producer, Nick Bilton.
Bilton informed Pelley of the termination in a letter Tuesday evening, writing that Pelley's conduct at the meeting was a "performative display of hostility" and adding, "I therefore write on behalf of CBS News, Inc. to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately." Bilton also told "60 Minutes" staff in a separate memo that the network had "parted ways" with him.
Bilton told Pelley the firing was for insubordination at the meeting the day before, writing that Pelley's "antipathy to the future of the show came through loud and clear," and said Pelley had hijacked the meeting and rejected overtures to work constructively.
Pelley accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss at the Monday meeting of "murdering the show" and challenging Bilton's "slender qualifications"; he later released a written statement late Tuesday accusing the network's new leadership of trying to push him "to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story" and "to include assertions that are unverified."
Editor in chief Bari Weiss addressed network employees in an editorial call about the firing, and in a meeting "this morning" she told attendees that Pelley had chosen his own path — to be fired rather than to find a way to work through his concerns, according to people who attended. Pelley issued a written rebuttal to Weiss' comments.
Pelley's exit ended a nearly 40-year run at CBS News: he joined the news division in 1989, anchored the "CBS Evening News" from 2011 to 2017 and was a "60 Minutes" correspondent for more than 20 years. Former "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager said, "I wouldn't want to be running the program without Scott. He is the best of the best."
Last week the program also lost correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi and executive producer Tanya Simon; Anderson Cooper left the program last month. With Pelley's ouster, only Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim remain on the roster, and two associates with knowledge said those correspondents are considering whether to resign.
Bilton, whose first meeting with the show was Monday, was previously a tech reporter for The New York Times and an investigative reporter for Vanity Fair, and he executive-produced a Netflix documentary about a couple accused of laundering Bitcoin; he has no experience in television news. Weiss was installed as editor in chief last October and the Ellisons, who own the network's parent company, also bought her news site, The Free Press; Weiss likewise has no experience in broadcast news.
The firings come as the network's corporate owner, Skydance Media, which took over Paramount in an $8 billion deal last year, extends its influence: the Ellison family became co-owners of TikTok's U.S. operations in January and is seeking regulatory approval next month for a proposed purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery valued at more than $110 billion. During the Paramount sale, the company made concessions to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr that critics said gutted diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and installed a conservative ombudsman.
Alfonsi had publicly complained that Weiss held one of her stories at the last minute and demanded an on-camera interview with a Trump White House official that never took place; the story later ran with additional statements from the administration appended. After her firing, Vega said her team had "experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories" and called the actions "censorship, both censorship and self-driven," adding that it was "dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy." The network previously rejected those allegations while expressing appreciation for Vega's work and said some claims were "not based in reality."
Bilton and Weiss have said they respect the show's traditions and legacy, and network figures said the program rose in the ratings 9% over the past season under Simon. Interviews with current and former staffers, however, suggest deep reservations about Weiss' judgment; some staffers said Weiss' efforts to overhaul flagship news shows prompted Anderson Cooper to decline an offer to anchor the "CBS Evening News" and leave the network, and the new Evening News anchor's ratings have sagged.