Seething Scott Pelley Unloads on 60 Minutes Bosses

It was supposed to be a cordial forum, one in which new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton would introduce himself to staffers and try to allay fears amid lots of turmoil. Instead, it turned into what industry newsletter Status is calling "Pelley's 60 Minutes Revolt." The reference is to 60 Minutes veteran Scott Pelley, who interrupted Bilton's opening remarks and unloaded on him in the Monday morning meeting. At times, his "newscaster's baritone" was "shaking in anger," reports the the New York Times, which obtained audio of the meeting. Some of the choice exchanges, from those two outlets and the Guardian:

• Bilton: "Bari loves this institution," he said of controversial CBS boss Bari Weiss. "She loves 60 Minutes."
• Pelley: "She is murdering 60 Minutes," he said. "She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she's been doing exactly that." (Weiss was not present.)

• Pelley: "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?" He also told Bilton that he "will never be welcome here."
• Bilton: "I have no problem taking a job in a place that I am not welcome in," he said, adding: "You are not going to intimidate me in front of this group of people. I want that to be clear."
• Bilton: "I care so deeply about this institution."
• Pelley: "Oh, please."
• Rude: CBS News managing editor Charles Forelle accused Pelley of being rude, and Pelley countered: "I'm not being rude. You know what was rude? Black Thursday was rude." The reference is to the firing of the previous executive producer, Tanya Simon, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.