Nick Bilton fires Scott Pelley: Inside the explosive '60 Minutes' ouster

CBS News recently fired 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. The incident came one day after he sharply criticized the newsmagazine’s new leadership in front of the staff.

In the recent incident, CBS, terminating Pelley immediately, brought scrutiny over CBS News Editor in Chief, Bari Weiss, and her controversial efforts to overhaul the network news division.

In a letter to Pelley that was shared by CBS, the program’s newly appointed executive producer, Nick Bilton, wrote that Pelley’s “antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear. And I have heard you.” Therefore, he wrote, “Your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately.”

During the meeting, Bilton, who was appointed on the same day, tried to reassure staff that he respected the program’s legacy while arguing that changes were necessary. Pelley also accused Weiss, who was not in attendance, of “murdering” “60 Minutes.” When Bilton said Weiss loves the show, Pelley responded, “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”

Pelley’s charge had political overtones. President Donald Trump sued CBS in 2024 over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, and even though legal experts said the suit was frivolous, Paramount’s previous ownership team decided to settle the case in July 2025 rather than defend the program in court.

Furthermore, Paramount’s new ownership team has sought a close relationship with Trump and his administration, and some critics of CBS have asserted a link between corporate attempts to appease Trump and the current overhaul of “60 Minutes.” Paramount is currently seeking Trump administration approval to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, including CNN.

CBS leaders have portrayed the situation very differently, saying that Weiss and her deputies are trying to revive a moribund TV news division and reorient its programs to reach new digital audiences. Weiss has tapped outsiders to do so. Her hiring of Bilton, a filmmaker and former tech reporter with little TV news experience, was the latest in a string of hotly debated moves. During Monday’s staff meeting, Pelley depicted Weiss and Bilton as unqualified for their jobs and said Bilton would “never be welcome here.”

Some insiders at CBS said afterward that they thought Pelley was daring Weiss to fire him. His detractors at the network said he acted like a bully at the staff meeting. But his supporters and he have said he was just standing up for his colleagues and trying to protect the “60 Minutes” franchise. In the letter justifying Pelley’s termination on Tuesday night, Bilton wrote to Pelley, “You hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt.”

Bilton called it a “performative display of hostility enacted in front of the staff” that “demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show, or approaching my new tenure with a mind open to collaboration and progress.” He continued, “Despite yesterday’s misconduct. I had hoped that in sitting down with you today we could find a path forward together. You made clear that you are not interested in such a path”.

That was a reference to a late afternoon meeting between Pelley and senior leadership. Weiss and Bilton were present, along with CBS News president Tom Cibrowski and a human resources representative, according to a source. The meeting, which was first reported by Puck, ended without any clear resolution about the way forward, and Pelley told staffers that he expected to be fired.

Later Tuesday evening, Bilton wrote to “60 Minutes” staffers about Pelley’s termination, acknowledging the correspondent’s stature inside the newsmagazine while defending the decision to “part ways” with him. I know how much Scott meant to many of you, and I don’t say this lightly,” Bilton wrote. “I made repeated attempts to have direct conversations with him over the weekend, and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. That was not the path Scott chose.”

Bilton also sought to turn the staff’s attention back to the future of “60 Minutes,” writing, “I realize this is a great deal of change in a very short time, and I wouldn’t pretend otherwise.”

“I won’t relitigate the last week with you here,” Bilton wrote. “What I will commit to is this: My unyielding support for each of you, the journalism that you do, and what we will do together going forward.” Pelley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.