Scott Pelley, a long-serving presenter of CBS News’s 60 Minutes, trashed the network’s editor-in-chief Bari Weiss at a staff meeting and accused her of “murdering” the show, according to multiple reports.
The New York Times, which obtained an audio recording of the blow-up, reports that Pelley, “his newscaster’s baritone sometimes shaking in anger,” also lashed out at the program’s new executive producer Nick Bilton, telling him he had “slender” qualifications for the job.
The meeting was said to have been held at CBS’s Midtown Manhattan offices at 10 a.m. Monday to introduce Bilton, who joins after his predecessor Tanya Simon and her deputy were fired last week, along with two correspondents: Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
The new man arrived attempting to soothe the tensions and make reassurances, telling staff, according to the Times: “For me, the journalism is the journalism. That is why I am here. That is why we are all here.
“The rumors people are spreading, that I’m going to turn the show into 60 one-minute episodes, that it’s going to be like TikTok, that is not changing. The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now.”
He continued: “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting, OK?,” calling for modernization. “Bari loves this institution,” Bilton added. “She loves 60 Minutes.”
It was at this point that Pelley reportedly snapped: “She is murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.
“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?”
Bilton is said to have responded: “Well, I will show you. That’s what I have to say. That is my plan over the next two weeks. I’ll be meeting with everyone. I’m very excited to meet with everyone, yourself included.”
The Times adds that Weiss was not in attendance at the meeting but had been prepared to come, only to be advised against it on the basis of ill-feeling surrounding the recent firings.
Pelley, for one, is reported to have expressed his anger over the dismissals to Bilton and asked the new hire why he had accepted a job in which he must have known he would not be welcome.
CNN and The Guardian gave similar accounts of the fiery meeting, attributed to sources. The Independent has reached out to CBS for comment.
Weiss was appointed as editor-in-chief of the network’s news division in October by tech billionaire David Ellison after taking over CBS’s parent company Paramount.
She has since been accused of dragging its editorial stance to the right, her tenure defined by controversy and upheaval, with top producers quitting on ideological grounds and reports of internal feuds emerging as its ratings slide.
The discontent engulfed 60 Minutes in December when Weiss ordered the spiking of a segment alleging that “brutal and torturous conditions” prevailed at CECOT, the El Salvador mega-prison where the Trump administration has deported migrants.
The official verdict was that the piece “needed additional reporting” but the journalist involved, Alfonsi, insisted that best practice had been followed throughout.
Pelley advised Weiss to take her role “more seriously” and the report eventually aired with only minor changes on January 18.
The show has also been accused of sidelining veteran anchor Lesley Stahl since Weiss took over, giving more airtime to the more MAGA-friendly Tony Dokoupil instead, and recently said goodbye to Anderson Cooper, who said on leaving: “I hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes.”
Weiss has previously pushed back on criticism of her leadership, insisting that CBS must adapt in order to survive.
“The majority of Americans say they do not trust the press; it isn’t because they’re crazy,” she wrote in a memo to staff, according to the Times.
She added that 60 Minutes needs to be more “comprehensive and fair” and called for more “viral” moments.
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