‘I had to stand up’ Pelley revisits confrontation that led to his exit
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former '60 Minutes' correspondent Scott Pelley on Sunday, June 7, spoke out about the consequential confrontation that cost him his job, in which he accused the CBS News editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering” the news program.
Pelley appeared in an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, in which he said he had to “stand up” to his CBS bosses on behalf of his less tenured coworkers.
Pelley reveals why he spoke up against his boss
Pelley became emotional while reflecting on his criticism of CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton during a staff meeting last week.
The veteran journalist had accused Weiss of “murdering” the long-running news program through a recent shakeup of its staff. CBS subsequently dismissed him from the network.
During the interview, The Interview host Lulu Garcia-Navarro asked Pelley why he felt compelled to speak out during the meeting.
“It was fate,” Pelley said. “First of all, our entire senior staff had been wiped out. They’re not there.”
“I looked around at my friends and colleagues in the room and realized I was the senior person, only I could do it. None of them could be asked to take that risk.”
Reflecting on what unfolded following the team shakeup, Pelley said, “when I saw Nick Bilton’s email, and then saw him reading to my broken-hearted people off his phone, I felt somebody had to stand up for the broadcast. Not just the broadcast, but the people.”
Pelley hails CBS team, says ‘people go to war’
Pelley choked up after emphasizing the hard work of his team, adding, “There are people in that room who go to war zones when they are pregnant.”
He then took a moment to put himself together.
“Newsrooms are sort of like the military or the police or the beautiful people at the FDNY down the street. It is a life-threatening job in many instances,” he continued. “And very strong bonds — very emotional bonds — are developed in that kind of setting.”
He went on, saying the new leaders at CBS News were clueless about those bonds.
As he continued speaking during the interview, Scott Pelley said that he had no idea that he could be fired for speaking against his bosses in front of co-workers.
“But Scott, in a meeting, you accused Bari Weiss, the head of the network, of wanting to murder the show — of coming into 60 Minutes with the agenda to dismantle the institution,” Garcia-Navarro followed up.
“And you did not think that that was going to have repercussions that could lead to your firing?”
Pelley departed the network after he had a heated confrontation with CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and new '60 Minutes' executive producer Nick Bilton during a staff meeting.
