Scott Pelley Claimed CBS News Boss Is 'Murdering' “60 Minutes” During Heated Staff Meeting: Report

Charlotte PhillippMon, June 1, 2026 at 11:41 PM UTC

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Scott Pelley, '60 Minutes' Correspondent, and Bari Weiss
Credit: Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty; Mike Vitelli/BFA.com/Shutterstock -

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley has accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of trying to "murder" the longtime Sunday news show, according to reports

Pelley reportedly made the comments during a heated staff meeting with new executive producer Nick Bilton

His comments come amid months of job shakeups at CBS News following Weiss' appointment and Paramount's merger with Skydance Media

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley reportedly accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of trying to "murder" the longtime Sunday news show.

According to reports from TheNew York Timesand TheGuardian, Pelley, the former CBS Evening News anchor made the comments during a heated staff meeting with new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton.

The outlets reported that Bilton said that Weiss loves 60 Minutes, to which Pelley responded, "She’s murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place, she was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that."

A source close to CBS News leadership told PEOPLE that "Bari and Nick attempted to reach out to Scott to speak privately since last week. Despite efforts to do so, they have not spoken."

"She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job. The changes that she’s made at the Evening News have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?" Pelley continued, according to the Times.

Bilton then reportedly responded, "Well, I will show you. That’s what I have to say. That is my plan over the next two weeks. I’ll be meeting with everyone. I’m very excited to meet with everyone, yourself included."

Bari Weiss speaks onstage during Book Club Event With Peggy Noonan on November 19, 2024.
Credit: Noam Galai/Getty

The Times reported that the meeting was supposed to act as the 60 Minutes staff's formal introduction to Bilton, a former investigative tech journalist and filmmaker who was appointed last week as executive producer as part of a major staffing overhaul at the legacy news program.

In a letter sent last week to the program's staff obtained by PEOPLE, Weiss wrote that Bilton — who is best known for his documentary filmmaking for projects including Netflix's Biggest Heist Ever, Unknown: Killer Robots, and Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal, as well as his bestselling books Hatching Twitter and American Kingpin — was set to "begin meeting with staff across the organization to listen, learn, discuss what is working, identify opportunities for growth, and begin laying the groundwork for Season 59 and beyond."

"The reality facing journalism in 2026 is not easy. Information is fragmented. Algorithms reward outrage. AI-generated misinformation is proliferating. Audiences are overwhelmed. And they have lost trust in legacy media. That reality makes the mission of 60 Minutes more important than ever," Weiss continued. "...We want stories that break news, expose wrongdoing, widen public understanding, and force accountability from every institution and every center of power."

"We want journalism that is surprising, agenda-setting, and impossible to ignore," she added. "That is not just our goal for 60 Minutes. That is our goal for all of CBS News."

On May 28, PEOPLE reported that Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi had parted ways with 60 Minutes — and Vega, 49, said in an Instagram post that she was "fired" from the network, adding her contract did not expire until March 2027 and alleging that "my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories" in recent months.

During the tense meeting, Pelley referred to the two journalists' exits from the show "Black Thursday," the Times reported, while Bilton attempted to reassure staffers that the program would not change drastically.

"For me, the journalism is the journalism," Bilton said, according to the recording. "That is why I am here. That is why we are all here."

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"The rumors people are spreading, that I’m going to turn the show into 60 one-minute episodes, that it’s going to be like TikTok, that is not changing. The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now," he added.

Scott Pelley.
Credit: Michele Crowe/CBS News via Getty

CBS also previously parted ways with Tanya Simon, the former executive producer whom Bilton replaced.

"Nick is one of the most entrepreneurial journalists of our time and the perfect leader for one of the most entrepreneurial news brands of all time," Weiss said in a statement at the time, announcing Bilton's hire.

"Hiring Nick represents a deliberate vision for 60 Minutes to go beyond an hour on Sunday evenings to become a 360-degree product that reaches audiences wherever they consume information," CBS News president Tom Cibrowski added.

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Pelley has previously been outspoken about recent major changes at CBS News made by its corporate owner, Paramount Global.

Following the abrupt resignation of longtime 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens in April 2025, Pelley said on-air that the show's "parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it."

"Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires. No one here is happy about it, but in resigning, Bill proved one thing. He was the right person to lead 60 Minutes all along," Pelley said during a broadcast at the time, per Mediaite.

In 2025, David Ellison — the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and a major donor to Trump and Republicans — successfully merged his company Skydance with CBS' parent company, Paramount.

David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Paramount, said at the time the merger was completed, "Today marks an exciting and pivotal moment as we prepare to bring Paramount's legacy as a Hollywood institution into the future of entertainment."

"...With a deep understanding of the industry and a strategic approach to growth, we will stay grounded in creative excellence, embrace cutting-edge innovation, and continue delivering the entertainment, news, and sports experiences that connect with audiences worldwide," he continued. "Together, we have the opportunity not only to shape Paramount's future, but also to play a meaningful role in where our industry is headed — and we can't wait to get started."

In April of this year, stockholders of CNN's parent company, Warner Bros., approved the $111 proposed merger that would give Ellison's Paramount Skydance domain over CNN as well. Weiss was appointed in October 2024 after Paramount Skydance acquired her news and opinion site, The Free Press.

60 Minutes airs on Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network and is available to stream on Paramount+.

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