CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss defended the network’s decision to fire 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, telling staffers on Wednesday that after attempting to engage with him “we had to part ways.”
Nick Bilton, who Weiss tapped as the new executive producer of the newsmagazine last week, wrote a letter to Pelley on Tuesday evening terminating his employment. It came after Bilton and Pelley had a verbal confrontation at an all staff meeting on Monday, in which the correspondent accused Weiss of “murdering” the top rated show.
Per a transcript of the call, confirmed by a source, Weiss said, “Before we get into it, I need to address what’s transpired in our newsroom over the past two days and what is making news. … 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. 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. We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he chose.
Weiss then went on to praise Pelley’s work. “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. His stories just from this past season on 60 Minutes, like Havana Syndrome, like the incredible interview with Ben Sasse. Like, the repelling into that enormous cave in Vietnam. Those are unforgettable stories.
She said that they “are the kind of stories that have always, always typified 60 Minutes. The kind of stories that Nick Bilton is going to put on the air come September in season 59 with the amazing team that’s still there and hopefully from some new people that are going to be joining us.”
Also on the call was Tom Cibrowski, the president of CBS News, who said, “Scott was an integral part of 60 Minutes, CBS Evening News, this entire news organization for decades.” He noted Pelley’s “incredible body of work” and said that it would “always be part of the history of CBS News, and you will miss Scott very much.”
He added, “We know that these events, developments, changes, are a lot to process for every single person in this room and on this call. And they are happening frequently. And we know that’s a lot to ask you all to come to work every day with your head held high to do the job that we ask you to do.”
Pelley responded to his firing later on Tuesday, with a lengthy statement in which he accused management of trying “to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story, among other allegations.
Pelley wrote, “I am deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we have received to “keep up the good fight.” Most of the men and women of CBS News are still in that fight. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.”
