Pelley Shown the Door: After Tense Meeting With CBS News

Scott Pelley was terminated from “60 Minutes” Tuesday evening, hours after meeting with CBS News leadership to address a heated clash the previous day in which he accused editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the program.

In a termination letter sent Tuesday and reviewed by TheWrap, “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton cited Pelley’s “antipathy to the future of the show” and accused him of hijacking the meeting with a “performative display of hostility” that showed no interest in the program’s success. 

Bilton wrote that Pelley’s employment with CBS was terminated for cause, effective immediately.

Bilton later informed the “60 Minutes” staff of the decision, expressing “unyielding support” for the team amid the sudden change. In his message to the team, Bilton said he had made repeated attempts over the weekend and that afternoon to find common ground, but Pelley chose a different path. 

He noted the disruption to planned discussions about Season 59 and committed to supporting the staff and their journalism going forward.

Pelley, a correspondent at the network for more than three decades, was informed of his firing by email around 9 p.m. Tuesday. The dismissal follows a tumultuous 24 hours at CBS News, triggered by Pelley’s public criticism of Weiss and Bilton, whom she selected as the new executive producer. 

Although scheduled for vacation, Pelley remained in New York and spent much of Tuesday at the “60 Minutes” headquarters on Manhattan’s West Side. He had previously declined private meetings with Weiss and Bilton about the show’s future before agreeing to Tuesday’s session.