Veteran journalist Scott Pelley, who was unexpectedly fired from CBS on June 2, has spoken for the first time.
He told The New York Times that “CBS News is on fire”, and that the news division’s editor in chief Bari Weiss should be removed from her position.
“My hope is that the leadership of Paramount will say to themselves, this isn’t working,” Pelley said in the interview.
CNN reports that it’s clear from NYT story that Pelley “is not going quietly” after his job loss from 60 Minutes, the most watched news program on American television.
During a heated staff meeting last Monday, Pelley described Weiss as “unqualified” and challenged newly appointed 60 Minutes Executive Producer, Nick Bilton’s, competency.
Pelley was terminated the next day, with Bilton justifying the firing by saying Pelley’s “performative display of hostility” showed “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.”
Pelley has now said of Weiss’s management this year, “there’s a subtle political bias”, accusing her decisions as intended to appease the Trump administration.
#BREAK: CBS NEWS has terminated Scott Pelley’s contract. pic.twitter.com/vbXyX8PBBv
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) June 3, 2026
Pelley also challenged the argument that 60 Minutes has not evolved with the times.
“We started our first ’60 Minutes’ online show, ‘60 Minutes Overtime,’ in 2010,” he said.
“I shoot TikTok verticals, or I used to shoot TikTok verticals on every assignment. We’re there. We’re everywhere.”
Further slamming Weiss, Pelley added that she is “a lovely person. And her Free Press organization that she founded has been very successful, she’s proven that. Great for her. But television’s not her thing.”
Scott Pelley axed from 60 Minutes US
Mediaweek reported that on June 2, CBS News terminated the contract of veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, after a 35 year tenure.
Pelley’s firing is the latest in a string of high-profile departures from the program, which is the longest-running prime-time news show in the United States.
At the end of May, Weiss fired executive producer Tanya Simon and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
Top image: Scott Pelley. Image: CBS