Scott Pelley's nearly four-decade run at CBS News is over, and it reportedly ended after a clash in a conference room. The longtime 60 Minutes correspondent was fired a day after he sharply criticized new executive producer Nick Bilton and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss during a tense staff meeting, according to a termination letter obtained by NBC News. In that letter, Bilton accused Pelley of "remarkable incivility and contempt" and said his behavior showed no interest in the show's future. He informed Pelley his employment was "terminated for cause effective immediately." Per CBS News' own reporting, Bilton said he met with Pelley privately Tuesday and the journalist was "not interested" in "finding a path forward together."
At Monday's meeting, held to introduce Bilton, Pelley accused Weiss of "murdering" the storied newsmagazine and said she was brought in "to kill it." The confrontation follows months of internal friction over editorial direction under new corporate owner Paramount Skydance, run by David Ellison. Staff have also been roiled by earlier departures, including former executive producer Tanya Simon and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Pelley's ouster leaves Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and Jon Wertheim as the remaining correspondents, as the broader media empire around CBS faces its own wave of consolidation. Soon after his firing, Pelley spoke to the New York Times, saying he'd risked his life in combat situations and war zones over the decades due to his "devotion to the broadcast." He also gave a lengthy statement to Status News.
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