{"id":253148,"date":"2026-06-03T02:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T02:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/253148\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T02:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T02:32:08","slug":"what-cbs-staffers-are-really-saying-about-scott-pelleys-brazen-attack-on-new-60-minutes-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/253148\/","title":{"rendered":"What CBS staffers are really saying about Scott Pelley’s brazen attack on new \u201860 Minutes\u2019 boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scott Pelley\u2019s brazen attack<\/a> on the new boss of \u201960 Minutes\u2019 has divided staffers at CBS News, with some insiders branding his behavior as \u201cbullying\u201d and \u201cgrandstanding\u201d \u2014 and yet another reckoning it was \u201ca set up,\u201d The Post has learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pelley laced into Nick Bilton<\/a>, the new executive producer of \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d on Monday during a meet-and-greet with staffers, calling out the boss\u2019 lack of TV experience, challenging his vision and telling him he will \u201cnever be welcomed here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did he accomplish?\u201d one CBS source said of Pelley\u2019s explosive attack. \u201cHe embarrassed the company and the leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

A day after the explosive meeting, Pelley met with CBS top brass in order to \u201cfind a path forward,\u201d according to Puck News.<\/p>\n

Scott Pelley\u2019s brazen attack on the new boss of \u201960 Minutes\u2019 has dived staffers at CBS News, sources said. 60 Minutes \/ YouTube<\/p>\n

But following the meeting, it became clear that path will end up with Pelley exiting CBS, Puck said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cScott Pelley had a meeting with CBS News leadership at 5pm ET to discuss a path forward after his protest in 60 Minutes all-hands,\u201d Byers wrote in\u00a0a post on X<\/a>. \u201cThe two sides did not find common ground and it now seems likely he will either resign or be fired, though neither has happened yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS News declined to comment on Puck\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

One media exec said of Pelley\u2019s likely exit: \u201cIt\u2019s about leadership. You can\u2019t lead a place where you\u2019re told you aren\u2019t welcome. You can\u2019t lead a place where the #1 anchor says you have no qualifications and have wrecked the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source added that Weiss has \u201clost the confidence\u201d of the staff amid her plans to overhaul\u00a0the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Network sources said Bilton and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss had tried to speak privately ahead of the meeting with Pelley \u2014 who was fuming about the network\u2019s firing of \u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, executive producer Tanya Simon and other top producers last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a set up. This was Scott going off for show,\u201d the insider opined. \u201cThis was just a show. He wants to stand up for journalism and maybe get fired but what does it change?\u201d<\/p>\n

A second source agreed that Pelley\u2019s tactics were \u201cproblematic,\u201d noting that the correspondent should have met with Weiss or Bilton to at least to hear them out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat grandstanding thing is insane. It\u2019s third-grade, playground bullying stuff,\u201d the source said. \u201cThis is not the way you conduct yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not taking down a dictator or someone who has committed war crimes,\u201d the source added. \u201cYou\u2019re not interviewing Saddam Hussein. It was a little bit overkill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c60 Minutes’\u201d new executive producer Nick Bilton had a heated exchange with Pelley on Monday during a staff meeting. Getty Images<\/p>\n

It remains unclear how CBS intends to react to Pelley\u2019s tirade. As previously reported by The Post<\/a>, Pelley has another year left on his contract and makes around $5 million a year. <\/p>\n

Sources speculated that the network is likely loathe to pay Pelley $5 million to quit. Ultimately, the decision rests with David Ellison, the CEO of CBS owner Paramount Skydance.<\/p>\n

A rep for the company declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people are perplexed in the building. There are people here who think \u201960 Minutes\u2019 is arrogant,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Pelley slammed CBS News boss Bari Weiss, claiming she was \u201cmurdering \u201960 Minutes,\u2019\u201d and that she \u201cwas brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.\u201d Getty Images for The Free Press<\/p>\n

CBS News journalists sometimes feel like second-class citizens, according to the source, who noted that the show ignores pitches from non-\u201c60 Minutes\u2019 producers and dislikes non-\u201c60 Minutes\u201d journalists appearing on their show. <\/p>\n

\u201cTheir arrogance is beyond reproach,\u201d the source said. \u201cBut at the same time, CBS people understand that they\u2019ll be affected by Bari Weiss too, and it\u2019s like, who do you hate more, \u201960 Minutes\u2019 or Bari Weiss and her people?\u201d <\/p>\n

Weiss has made a slew of bold moves in her eight-month tenure, including shaking up \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d and installing former \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d co-host Tony Dokoupil as anchor<\/a>. She also shuttered the century-old CBS News Radio<\/a> and brought in Bilton, a former New York Times tech columnist with a handful of documentary producing credits<\/a>, to lead \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondent Lesley Stahl (left) with Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and Tanya Simon (left to right), who were all let go last week. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sources speculated that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison will ultimately decide Pelley\u2019s fate. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Pelley claimed in his rant that Weiss was \u201cmurdering \u201960 Minutes,\u2019\u201d and that she \u201cwas brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that,\u201d while adding that \u201cshe has no qualifications for her job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelley added that Bilton has \u201cslender\u201d qualifications for the new job, and demanded to know why his colleagues had been fired. In a heated-back-and forth, Bilton said he had nothing to do with the cuts, and later told Pelley he wasn\u2019t going to be \u201cintimidated\u201d before abruptly ending the meeting.<\/p>\n

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As previously reported, the room \u201cerupted\u201d in applause after Bilton left \u2014 a bad sign, according to a former CBS News exec, who said it meant that the staffers in the room are \u201cafraid\u201d to speak their minds in front of leadership.<\/p>\n

The person said it should be essential for journalists to be able to have a debate and be heard without fear of retribution. <\/p>\n

Late Tuesday, Breaker Media reported that CBS CEO George Cheeks had advised Weiss against blowing up the respected, profitable and highly rated \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scott Pelley\u2019s brazen attack on the new boss of \u201960 Minutes\u2019 has divided staffers at CBS News, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16763,2997,288,2998,1208,9,11,10,98749],"class_list":["post-253148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-60-minutes","tag-bari-weiss","tag-business","tag-cbs-news","tag-media","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-scott-pelley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}