Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Scott Pelley criticized CBS leaders over changes to "60 Minutes" management.
- He accused Bari Weiss of undermining the program, citing staff dismissals.
- Nick Bilton, new executive producer, aims for reinvention amid internal tensions.
NEW YORK — CBS News management faced a fresh crisis on Monday after legendary "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley accused the network's editor in chief Bari Weiss of trying to "kill" the acclaimed newsmagazine.
Pelley made the comments during a tense meeting between the staff of "60 Minutes" and the program's brand-new executive producer, Nick Bilton.
Last week, Weiss stunned the TV news industry by hiring Bilton, an outsider with roots in tech reporting, to run the show, which consistently ranks as the highest-rated news program on television.
Bilton replaced "60 Minutes" veteran Tanya Simon, who was dismissed along with several longtime producers and two correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
When Bilton said in Monday's meeting that Weiss loved CBS News and "60 Minutes," Pelley responded, "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."
Pelley also depicted Weiss and Bilton as unqualified for their jobs and said Bilton would "never be welcome here."
One of the sources who described the meeting to CNN said they agreed with Pelley's assessment and noted that he received applause from staffers immediately afterward.
Another source said they thought Pelley was rude and unprofessional, a sentiment echoed by Weiss deputy Charles Forelle during the meeting.
The divergent opinions reflect the severe tensions on display at "60 Minutes," which have been exacerbated by fears about CBS's parent company, Paramount, attempting to curry favor with President Donald Trump.
Paramount is currently trying to acquire CNN and the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that requires approval from the Trump administration.
And Trump is both a viewer and, at times, a vocal critic of "60 Minutes." In 2024, he filed a lawsuit against CBS over a segment on the newsmagazine, and Paramount opted to settle with Trump rather than defend itself in court.
With that in mind, veteran producers have suggested that Weiss is trying to neuter the newsmagazine, a charge that her allies say is outlandish.
When asked by CNN last week if he would shy away from aggressive coverage of the Trump administration, Bilton said, "Absolutely not. If you look at Season 58 of '60 Minutes,' the team produced incredible coverage of the Trump administration, and that will continue in Season 59, Season 60 and so on."
Bilton, whose first official day was Monday, projected calm during the meeting and said he looked forward to one-on-one conversations with the correspondents, producers and other staff members.
According to a person with knowledge of the matter, Weiss and Bilton had sought out Pelley for a private meeting last week, but the longtime correspondent had not taken them up on the offer.
A CBS News spokesperson declined to comment on the confrontation at the meeting. Pelley did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN. But an audio recording of the meeting leaked to outlets such as The New York Times and Status, ensuring his remarks were widely reported.
Pelley is under contract with CBS, and management sources have previously said that they want him to remain with the newsmagazine.
On Monday, however, CBS staffers openly wondered whether that would be possible.
Pelley's comments signaled that he agrees with former "60 Minutes" staffers who have spoken out publicly about the program's uncertain fate.
Rome Hartman, who produced for "60 Minutes" for more than 25 years and retired last year, told CNN that last week's firings showed "arrogance, disrespect, and cruelty."
The reporters and producers at the newsmagazine "aren't stuck-in-the-past dinosaurs, as Weiss and her folks would have you believe; they are seasoned professionals doing their jobs with creativity and energy and innovation," he said.
Hartman said Monday that he agreed with Pelley's remarks at the meeting.
However, sources close to Weiss told CNN last week that she viewed "60 Minutes" as an incredibly valuable but unfortunately archaic institution, one in urgent need of reinvention.
While the newsmagazine's veterans have touted its high ratings, Weiss has said that success was all the more reason to change now, from a position of strength.
Weiss has also talked privately about wanting more hard-hitting work from the "60 Minutes" team.
In a memo last week, Weiss and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski wrote, "We want stories that break news, expose wrongdoing, widen public understanding, and force accountability from every institution and every center of power. We want journalism that is surprising, agenda-setting, and impossible to ignore. That is not just our goal for '60 Minutes.' That is our goal for all of CBS News."
They asserted that Bilton embodied "the energy and ambition" that animated the founders of "60 Minutes" — something that Pelley chafed at on Monday.
Bilton, who was an investigative tech reporter at The New York Times and Vanity Fair, has also authored two books and produced documentaries for HBO and Netflix.
He said in an introductory memo, and repeated on Monday, that he has a notebook full of ideas for expanding "60 Minutes" to new digital platforms.
But first, Bilton said, he needs to get to know the staff — and that difficult process is now underway.
