Fired 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley says CBS told him to inject ‘falsehoods’ into reporting | CBS
Scott Pelley, a longtime 60 Minutes correspondent who was fired by CBS News on Tuesday after clashing with the network’s new management, issued a press release accusing the network’s new executives of silencing employees and claiming they instructed him to “introduce misinformation and bias” into his reporting.
“’60’ has been America’s number one show for decades because our beloved viewers find honesty, quality and humanity in our stories,” Pelley wrote in his lengthy statement. shared on social media Wednesday morning.
“When management of the program passed to my colleagues and I, our responsibility was to energetically expand into a new era of media technology while maintaining the values our audiences have come to expect. Now the new owner of our network is setting aside that myth, apparently to curry favor with the Trump administration.”
Pelley criticized the new leadership at CBS, adding: “Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air reporters were brutally fired without cause. Good people were silenced for defending our audience. They defended justice against the forces of political bias; they defended professionalism against chaos.”
He continued: “For my part, the new administration instructed me to insert lies and bias into a politically sensitive story. I was told to include unsubstantiated allegations. To date, I have managed to ignore or deny these instructions in every case.”
“Lately politicians have been invited to choose reporters for on-air interviews. 60 Minutes That’s not how interviews are done. Finally, the incompetence and unprofessionalism of the new management wreaked havoc. In one case involving one of my stories, it arrived 19 minutes after the entire program had gone on air.”
He concluded his statement, “After 37 years at CBS, I live with a single emotion – with a heart filled with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encourage and enrich my work, often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when these people and their ideals will be honored again – for a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.”
CBS News did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment on the statement.
Pelley had worked on the show since 2004 and was terminated on Tuesday following a conflict with new network leadership. His dismissal comes after CBS News management stunned employees last week by firing the network’s executive producer, managing editor and two reporters without giving specific reason. And according to subsequent reports, tensions flared during a heated meeting Monday that included the show’s newly appointed editor-in-chief, Nick Bilton, and another CBS News executive. During the meeting, Pelley berated opinion commentator Bari Weiss, whom CBS News appointed editor-in-chief in October.
“He’s killing 60 Minutes,” Pelley said, according to the Guardian’s initial report. “He doesn’t like this place. He was brought here to kill and that’s exactly what he’s doing.”
Pelley was informed of his termination via a message the next day from Bilton, who called out Pelley’s behavior in the meeting.
“Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with employees to belittle me, my qualifications and my intentions with remarkable rudeness and disdain,” he wrote.
