Scott Pelley was fired by CBS’ 60 Minutes after 37 years with the network.
“There has never been anything in America like 60 Minutes,” Pelley said in a statement on June 2, 2026. “60 has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality and humanity in our stories.”
Us Weekly confirmed earlier that month that Pelley’s contract was terminated after a verbal clash with Nick Bilton, who was named the show’s executive producer in May 2026.
“You should hear this from me first. We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” a memo sent to staffers and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter reads. “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.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about Pelley’s exit from CBS:
Why Scott Pelley Was Fired
News broke in June 2026 was let go from CBS and 60 Minutes after an alleged verbal altercation with Bilton over his new show leadership.
“Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” Bilton told Pelley in an email obtained by NBC News. “I welcome a diversity of viewpoints and respectful debate among the team, but this was nothing of the sort.”
Bilton added, “Yesterday’s performative display of hostility — enacted in front of the staff instead of in a civil, private conversation — demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show or approaching my new tenure with a mind open to collaboration and progress.”
Scott Pelley Has Theories About His Firing
In a June 2026 statement, Pelley claimed he was let go because the new CBS bosses wanted to “curry a moment of favor” with President Donald Trump and his administration. (CBS’ parent company, Paramount, was purchased by Skydance Media in 2025.)
“When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects,” Pelley said. “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.”
Pelley also claimed that he was told to “inject falsehoods and bias” into a politically sensitive story without verifying the claims.
“To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast,” Pelley alleged. “Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc.”
CBS has not responded to Pelley’s accusations.
Bari Weiss Addresses Scott Pelley’s Firing
Weiss, the editor-in-chief of CBS News, issued a statement on June 3, 2026.
“I know I speak for myself, and I hope I speak for everyone here when I say that I’m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect,” Weiss said. “We cannot do our work without it. That foundation was broken on Monday, and despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways.”
She continued, “We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he chose. That unfortunate outcome does not discount from the amazing contributions and work that Scott Pelley has done for CBS and for 60 Minutes over the course of his career.”
What Has Scott Pelley Said About His CBS Departure?
“I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion — a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives,” Pelley added in his June 2026 statement. “I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again — a day when sanity, competence and courage return.”
Read the full article here
