{"id":348317,"date":"2026-06-05T18:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/348317\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T18:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:08:13","slug":"wga-and-sag-aftra-call-out-cbs-and-the-recent-firings-at-60-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/348317\/","title":{"rendered":"WGA and SAG-AFTRA call out CBS and the recent firings at ’60 Minutes’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Both SAG-AFTRA <\/a>and the Writers Guild East<\/a> are condemning the recent firings at CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Under the news network\u2019s editor-in-chief Bari Weiss<\/a>, on-air correspondents Scott Pelley<\/a>, Cecilia Vega<\/a>, Sharyn Alfonsi <\/a>and the program\u2019s executive producer, Tanya Simon,<\/a> have all been ousted from the legacy newsmagazine. The two unions, which represent journalists, said the recent actions appear to compromise editorial independence.<\/p>\n

WGA East president Tom Fontana wrote in a letter to members on Thursday that the changes at CBS News \u201care more than mere ideological interference with the news. They display a profound contempt for the journalism profession.\u201d <\/p>\n

He added, \u201cit is clear that CBS brass is engaged in a near-constant level of editorial interference that would have previously been unthinkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tom <\/p>\n

Tom Fontana joined WGA and SAG-AFTRA members on the picket line in the strike over contract negotiation at Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery offices on Aug. 15, 2023, in in New York City. <\/p>\n

(Lev Radin \/ VIEWpress via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

SAG-AFTRA similarly said in a statement Thursday that these \u201cdecisions can only be seen as part of a broader strategy to gut the crucial independent journalism that is so important to our democratic system.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for CBS News said in a statement, \u201cThere is no political interference at CBS News, not from ownership, not from Bari Weiss. The only \u2018interference\u2019 is the normal back and forth between editor and correspondent that happens in every newsroom.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pelley, one of the program\u2019s most high-profile correspondents, was fired on Tuesday after speaking out during a team meeting. He reportedly said Weiss \u201cis murdering \u201860 Minutes.\u2019 \u2026 She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she\u2019s been doing exactly that.\u201d He also questioned the newly hired executive producer, Nick Bilton, and his ability to run the show, citing his lack of TV news experience.<\/p>\n

Pelley accused CBS News management of favoring the Trump administration by instructing him to put \u201cfalsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been told to include assertions that are unverified,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cTo date, in every case, I have ignored these instructions or refuse them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c60 Minutes\u201d is now down four correspondents, following Anderson Cooper\u2019s departure<\/a> and the firings of Vega <\/a>and Alfonsi. These are only the most recent controversial moves from Weiss, who\u2019s set on remaking the institution long defined by tradition. She arrived at CBS News in October with no television experience, installed by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison after he acquired her digital news outlet, the Free Press, with a mandate to change the network. <\/p>\n

Since her hiring, there was a significant round of layoffs<\/a> and CBS News Radio was shut down<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect,\u201d Weiss said of Pelley\u2019s firing during a meeting on Wednesday morning. \u201cThat foundation was broken on Monday, and despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren\u2019t able to do so, and so we had to part ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lack of reporters means \u201c60 Minutes\u201d will have to line up new talent quickly to fill the correspondent roles, as production of the 2026-27 season is already underway.<\/p>\n

WGA\u2019s Fontana added, \u201cTo our friends and colleagues at CBS News: We see you, and you are not alone. Thousands of your union brothers, sisters, and siblings have your backs.\u201d <\/p>\n

SAG-AFTRA also said the union is prepared to take \u201clegal actions related to the company\u2019s conduct over the last several weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild East are condemning the recent firings at CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d Under the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4596,142658,28400,48,52,51,47928,47,50,49,47635,142659,142657,4576,142656,3811,56748,7951,2328,63913,90910],"class_list":["post-348317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-cbs-news","tag-cecilia-vega","tag-executive-producer","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lack","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-minutes","tag-on-air-correspondent-scott-pelley","tag-pelley","tag-program","tag-recent-firing","tag-sag-aftra","tag-sharyn-alfonsi","tag-statement-thursday","tag-union","tag-weiss","tag-wga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}