CBS News fires correspondent Scott Pelley from 60 Minutes

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: CBS News fires correspondent Scott Pelley from 60 Minutes 14 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleBrandon DrenonGetty ImagesCBS News fired its longtime 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley on Tuesday evening, amid an ongoing, tumultuous shakeup of the organisation under new leadership. Newly installed CBS News chief Bari Weiss fired a string of staff at the news programme last week, including its longtime executive producer, and tapped a new editor, Nick Bilton, with no broadcast news experience. The moves inflamed concerns the network's leadership would undermine independent journalism at the US's longest-running and highest-rated news programme.

At a staff meeting on Monday, Pelley accused Weiss of "murdering 60 Minutes", US media reported. Bilton called Pelley uncooperative in a termination letter sent to the host. The has contacted CBS News for comment.

The Details

In a statement after his firing, Pelley accused the organisation of becoming more politicised and forcing him to "inject falsehoods and bias" into his work. "I've been told to include assertions that are unverified," he continued. Pelley said "incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc".

In the letter terminating Pelley's contract on Tuesday, Bilton accused him of hijacking the staff meeting to disparage Bilton, his qualificatons and intentions with "remarkable incivility and contempt". "Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear. And I have heard you," Bilton wrote.

He sent a separate memo to 60 Minutes staff, saying he made multiple attempts to have direct conversations with Pelley and could not find common ground. "That was not the path Scott chose," Bilton wrote, according to a letter published by CBS News. CBS News has a partnership agreement with the , meaning news content including video footage can be shared.

What Experts Say

News is editorially independent of CBS. The upheaval at the news organisation had been under way since August 2025 when David Ellison, an ally of US President Donald Trump, bought CBS's parent company, Paramount. Ellison installed Weiss as the new editor-in-chief of CBS in October.

She has outlined a new vision for CBS News in the digital era. Weiss told staff in January that CBS News was relying too heavily on broadcast television and was "not producing a product that enough people want". "The reality is twofold.

First: Not enough people trust us. As in: the mainstream media," she said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Second: We are not doing enough to meet audiences where they are.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.