CBS fires top journo after criticism of news regime
CBS News in the United States has terminated the contract of 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, joining more than half a dozen departures in recent weeks.
“Your antipathy towards the future of the series has become clear. And I heard you,” Nick Bilton, the show’s executive producer, wrote in an email to Pelley on Tuesday and seen by Reuters.
“Therefore, I am writing on behalf of CBS News, Inc. (“CBS”) to inform you that your employment with CBS has been terminated effective immediately.”
Pelley did not immediately respond when reached for comment.
His departure from the network came amid media reports that he accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of “killing” 60 Minutes.
In a memo to the show’s staff and seen by Reuters, Bilton said the network had parted ways with Pelley and acknowledged that 60 Minutes had “seen a huge turnaround in a very short period of time.”
Pelley is among more than a half-dozen people who have left the Sunday newsmagazine, the longest-running prime-time program in the United States, in recent weeks.
CBS fired previous executive producer Tanya Simon, as well as reporters Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
Skydance Media, run by David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder and longtime supporter of President Donald Trump Larry Ellison, acquired Paramount in August and named Weiss editor-in-chief in October.
David Ellison helped win regulatory approval for the deal to create Paramount Skydance with the promise that the CBS network would reflect the “diverse ideological perspectives” of American viewers.
Before the deal, Paramount had paid US$16 million ($22 million) to settle a lawsuit Trump filed in 2024 over a 60-minute interview with former vice president Kamala Harris that he said showed a distorted view of his White House rival.
