CBS News fires veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley

CBS News terminated longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley on June 2, 2026. Pelley was dismissed after a heated staff meeting in which he accused new executive producer Nick Bilton and editor‑in‑chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the program. Bilton’s termination letter said Pelley displayed a “performative display of hostility” and an “antipathy to the future of the show,” and that he was “terminated for cause effective immediately.”

The firing follows a broader shake‑up at CBS News under Weiss and new owner Paramount Skydance, which has already seen the ouster of former executive producer Tanya Simon and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Pelley claimed he was pressured to inject “falsehoods and bias” into stories and that management was trying to curry favor with political powers. The dismissal has sparked reactions from pundits, speculation about a replacement, and debate over newsroom ethics and corporate control of a flagship news program.