Scott Pelley has been fired from “CBS News.” The now-former "60 Minutes" host was let go after a confrontation with the show's new executive producer. In a letter to Pelley, Nick Bilton said he was disappointed Pelley chose to "ambush" him by criticizing him during his first meeting with staff. He went on to say that in a meeting with Pelley Tuesday the host made clear he wasn't interested in a path forward together.
This comes after reports from the “New York Times” that Pelley slammed the network's top editor, Bari Weiss, during a contentious meeting among "60 Minutes" employees. Pelley accused Weiss of systematically dismantling the iconic show. Weiss took over after CBS settled a lawsuit with President Trump over the editing of a Kamala Harris interview. Shortly afterwards, the network canceled “Late Night with Stephen Colbert."
On May 28th, Weiss cut multiple staffers from “60 Minutes” including journalists Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi. Alfonsi spoke out previously about the network, now owned by Donald Trump ally David Ellison. The network killed a story on the infamous CECOT prison in El Salvador, where the administration sent some immigrants to be detained. The prison has been known for many human rights violations.
Now Pelley has released a statement saying “Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration. The waste is heartbreaking.” He added “Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.”
Source: People