Scott Pelley fired: CBS terminates 60 Minutes correspondent after clash with management – 5 things to know
BREAKING NEWS fired veteran ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, June 2, following a meeting with management in response to his criticism of the news magazine’s new leadership.
“Despite yesterday’s misconduct, I had hoped that in sitting down with you today we could find a path forward together. You made clear that you are not interested in such a path,” newly appointed ‘60 Minutes’ executive producer Nick Bilton wrote to Pelley on Tuesday evening, according to CNN.
Read More | ‘Big changes are coming’: BREAKING NEWS’ Bari Weiss planning major shakeup at 60 Minutes, and her targets are…
“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” Bilton wrote. “And I have heard you.”
Therefore, he added, “your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately.”
Five things to know
Here are five things to after Scott Pelley’s firing:
- On Monday, June 1, Pelley questioned and criticized Bilton in a staff-wide meeting. His scathing comments leaked to news outlets outside, triggering a crisis inside CBS, CNN reported.
- Pelley accused editor in chief Bari Weiss of trying to “kill” the newsmagazine and objected to her hiring of Bilton, a former tech reporter with little TV news experience, to run the program.
- Pelley had reportedly refused to meet with Bilton and Weiss privately to discuss last Thursday’s shake-up at ‘60 Minutes,’ which included the firings of top producers and two correspondents. On the same day, Bilton was appointed.
- Pelley at Monday’s staff meeting depicted Weiss and Bilton as unqualified for their jobs. He even said that Bilton would “never be welcome here.”
- The meeting ended without any clear resolution about the way forward. On Tuesday evening, Bilton wrote to ‘60 Minutes’ staffers about Pelley’s exit, “I know how much Scott meant to many of you, and I don’t say this lightly. I made repeated attempts to have direct conversations with him over the weekend, and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. That was not the path Scott chose.”
“I won’t relitigate the last week with you here,” Bilton added. “What I will commit to is this: My unyielding support for each of you, the journalism that you do and what we will do together going forward.”