Turmoil at CBS and 60 Minutes; Pelley Fired after Lacing into Bosses
Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley laced into his boss, CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss at a closed door staff meeting with the show’s new executive producer Nick Bilton. He said Weiss was “murdering” 60 Minutes and that Bilton had “slender qualifications for this job.”
| 04 Jun 2026 | 08:05
Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley was fired one day after lacing into CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss and the program’s newexecutive producer, former NYTimes tech writer, Nick Bilton. (
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Many years ago, I worked for CBS—well, its local affiliate in Los Angeles. Even for an entity far from New York’s broadcasting empire, the CBS name and reputation were beyond reproach. Which is why anyone who worked there, I believe, is so heartbroken to see how it has seemingly become the megaphone for new executives clearly out of their league. This has now, of course, exploded with “60 Minutes” imploding.
What would Edward R. Murrow say? Hey, what would Walter Cronkite and even Dan Rather say? What would a man named Bill Stout—who was, in fact, married to my aunt at one time—say?
Stout—who passed away two years ago—was the epitome of the CBS newsman, a true legend starting in radio, then the network. You will see him in many films, like Robert Redford’s “The Candidate,” playing, well, himself. He, in fact, helped my career by calling to say, “Michele, I know your dream is to work at CBS. Well, a two-week tryout has opened.... “ Suffice to say, I tried and enjoyed that job for over two years.
Andrew Heyward, a former executive at CBS News says, “I don’t know whether actual malevolence or just arrogance and inexperience are to blame. But it’s extraordinary how much damage has been done so quickly.”
Longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent, now retired, Steve Kroft spoke publicly about what it’s like inside at this perilous moment. “People had become extremely nervous about what kinds of stories they could suggest, what kinds of stories they could work on, and how any story that would be critical of the Trump administration would face major obstacles to getting on the air.”
One former producer of the show, Harry Moses, has a memoir coming in September called “Mad As Hell: How 60 Minutes Took on The Powerful and Made Television History.” Others are also mad as hell.
Jimmy Kimmel the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC, who has famously feuded with the Trump White House, left no doubt where he stood on the turmoil at CBS in his opening monologue on June 3.
“Last night, the Trump suck-ups at CBS fired a great and deeply respected journalist, Scott Pelley, from his job at 60 Minutes because he stood up for truth and integrity at a show that’s been the gold standard for broadcast journalism for 57 years,” Kimmel said.
For myself, and many who started our professional lives at the legendary network, we are sad as hell.