Scott Pelley is going scorched earth on CBS News after being fired, accusing the network’s new leadership under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of trying to push “falsehoods and bias” into its reporting.
Pelley, 68, spent 37 years at CBS News and became one of the best-known faces of “60 Minutes” before his termination Tuesday. In a blistering public statement, the veteran correspondent unloaded on network management and claimed the newsroom’s standards had collapsed.
“For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story,” Pelley wrote. “I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified.”
Pelley did not provide specific details about the story or the alleged instructions, but said he had resisted the pressure.
“To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them,” he said.
The former “60 Minutes” star also claimed politicians had been allowed to influence editorial decisions at the legendary newsmagazine.
“Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast,” Pelley wrote. “Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done.”
Pelley appeared to be referring to a report that Weiss allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to choose CBS News correspondent Major Garrett for an interview, despite “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl reportedly pursuing the sit-down for months.
Garrett’s Netanyahu interview later aired on “60 Minutes,” even though he is not part of the program’s full-time correspondent roster.
In his first public statement since CBS News cut him loose, Pelley accused the network’s new brass of gutting the values that made the program famous.
“Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause,” Pelley wrote in a statement posted to Instagram early Wednesday.
🚨 NOW: In a HUGE FAFO moment, CBS has just TERMINATED 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley’s contract, “EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY”
Pelley accused Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of “MURDERING” the show and got into a heated meeting
Executive Producer fired back in a scathing letter: “Your… pic.twitter.com/magpFWa4Om
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 3, 2026
“Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.”
The public broadside came just two days after Pelley reportedly clashed with newly installed “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton during a tense staff meeting.
During that meeting, Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering ‘60 Minutes’” and said she “was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that,” according to accounts of the confrontation.
CBS News fired Pelley after the showdown, ending his decadeslong run at the network and adding to a wave of turmoil inside the storied newsroom.
The shakeup has also included the departures of executive producer Tanya Simon, correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, senior executive producer Draggan Mihailovich, veteran producer Guy Campanile and staffer Matthew Polvoy.
Trump also torched Pelley in an interview, ripping the ousted CBS star as part of a broader media class he has long accused of working against the country.
“I think Scott Pelley’s got his own problems. He’s terrible. Look, Scott Pelley’s a stiff — and he’s afraid. And he’s part of this gang of crooked, stupid people that don’t care about our country.”
🔥NEW: Trump *TORCHES* Scott Pelley🔥
“I think Scott Pelley’s got his own problems. He’s terrible. Look, Scott Pelley’s a stiff — and he’s afraid. And he’s part of this gang of crooked, stupid people that don’t care about our country.” pic.twitter.com/IGFRtSig0j
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) June 3, 2026
The fiery remark added another layer to the CBS meltdown, with Donald Trump making clear he had little sympathy for Pelley as the longtime correspondent publicly blasted the network’s new leadership.
Bilton has since become the public face of CBS News’ effort to remake “60 Minutes” after the network’s dramatic leadership changes.
Pelley also accused management of “incompetence and unprofessionalism,” saying the chaos had damaged the broadcast from the inside.
“In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all,” he wrote.
The fired correspondent then turned his aim toward Paramount Skydance, claiming the company was weakening “60 Minutes” while “apparently” trying “to curry favor with the Trump administration.”
Despite the ugly split, Pelley closed his statement by thanking the people he worked with during his nearly four decades at CBS.
“I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion, a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work,” he wrote.
For CBS News, the firing marks another dramatic chapter in a newsroom already reeling from internal fights, high-profile exits and a bruising battle over the future of one of television’s most famous news programs.
For Pelley, the message was just as clear. He may be out at CBS, but he is not leaving quietly.
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