{"id":720763,"date":"2026-06-07T10:01:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T10:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/720763\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T10:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T10:01:12","slug":"bill-maher-celebrates-scott-pelleys-ousting-from-60-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/720763\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher Celebrates Scott Pelley’s Ousting From ’60 Minutes’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bill Maher co-signed the termination of longtime \u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondent Scott Pelley<\/a>, telling his panelists as much during Friday\u2019s \u201cReal Time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does the panel think of the recent shakeup at \u201960 Minutes\u2019? I\u2019m for it,\u201d Maher asked Murphy and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice during his \u201cOvertime\u201d segment posted to YouTube.<\/p>\n

Murphy offered a counter opinion, noting, \u201cI mean, listen, you\u2019re watching a censorship state be created. Trump is using the powers that he has available as president of the United States to install only friendly ownership at the big media companies. He\u2019s using regulatory powers to punish people who oppose him.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cI guess it\u2019s fascinating to me that, like, all our big institutions have kind of let us down, right? From academia to the corporate world to big media, they\u2019ve all folded in with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Bill\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Though, Murphy remained optimistic, highlighting that mid-term elections were five months away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might pull off a free and fair election,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of astounding that the people of this country, even as the corruption of our democracy happens in media, in the corporate world, even around Donald Trump\u2019s inner circle, the people have just decided they\u2019re hanging on to this democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Maher disagreed, sharing, \u201cThat\u2019s a big charge that you just made, that that that \u201960 minutes\u2019 itself and CBS itself is now completely MAGA. I don\u2019t see it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelley was terminated from \u201c60 Minutes\u201d on Tuesday after clashing with new executive producer Nick Bilton earlier in the week, where he accused editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of \u201cmurdering\u201d the program. In an exit note released<\/a> after his termination, Pelley railed against Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, writing, \u201cNow, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration. The waste is heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

Back on \u201cReal Time,\u201d Murphy conceded that the network is not \u201ccompletely MAGA,\u201d but defended the president \u201cis clearly intent on installing people who will tell his story and will keep his critics off the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maher also questioned whether any of Pelley\u2019s claims, or claims made by others who have insisted programming on \u201c60 Minutes\u201d has changed, would be obvious \u201cif I didn\u2019t read about it all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but it\u2019s not just \u201960 Minutes\u2019 and part of it is you don\u2019t know what they choose not to air, part of what the allegation is that they are killing stories that would be embarrassing for the president,\u201d Murphy hit back. \u201cSo it\u2019s hard to know what you\u2019re missing in a censorship environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maher was not convinced, noting he\u2019s seen coverage that\u2019s \u201cnot very favorable to the president.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I would have noticed any different if I hadn\u2019t been reading about it,\u201d Maher replied. \u201cAlso, I just don\u2019t think being a \u201960 Minutes\u2019 correspondent is that hard. I don\u2019t feel like Scott Pelley was a national treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Correspondent Cecilia Vega, who was fired from the network in late May<\/a>, producing teams were pressured to \u201cinsert political bias into our stories,\u201d adding, \u201cReporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s call this what is is: Censorship, both imposed and self-driven,\u201d she noted. \u201cIt is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the conversation between Maher and Murphy in the video above.<\/p>\n

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