Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley confronted his new boss over the ouster of his executive producer and other colleagues in a fiery meeting Monday morning.
Pelley, who has been with 60 Minutes since 2004, met with new executive producer Nick Bilton and another unnamed executive in a heated closed-door exchange, Guardian journalist Jeremy Barr reported on X.
“She’s murdering 60 Minutes,” Pelley said of CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, according to Barr.
“She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”
Pelley was also “pushing back strongly on last Thursday’s firings,” Barr wrote. And he was supported in the meeting by producers who “showed up for him.”
After Bilton gave what was reportedly a “lame” answer to a question, Pelley attacked.
“You wouldn’t do very well in a 60 Minutes interview,” he reportedly said.
Another source told the New York Post that Bilton was “ticked off” and replied: “Scott, I’m not intimidated by you.”
The source said Bilton then added, “Enjoy the bagels,” before getting up and leaving the room.
CBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The clash comes after a bloodbath at 60 Minutes last week. Correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were fired on Thursday, along with executive producer Tanya Simon, a 30-year veteran of the program who is being replaced by Bilton, a man who has never worked in TV news.
Pelley is not alone in his outrage. CBS News staffers are up in arms over Weiss’ plans to overhaul 60 Minutes and are petitioning their billionaire boss to rein her in.
Breaker Media founder Lachlan Cartwright told MS Now on Sunday night that journalists at CBS are at their wits’ end about Weiss’ changes, which they believe are skewing the network’s coverage in favor of the Trump administration.
“I was made aware of a letter that will go out tomorrow to [Paramount CEO] David Ellison from CBS news staffers,” he said. “They are asking David Ellison to respect editorial values and independent journalism.”
Cartwright said the firings were the last straw for news staff, who have been concerned about the journalistic direction of the network under Weiss for some time.
“There was a letter meant to go out last year, they decided at that point not to do it, but this letter is going to go out tomorrow to David Ellison from these staffers because people I speak to within CBS are absolutely distraught about what’s going on here.”
He said staff at the network are sure the changes at 60 Minutes are the result of President Donald Trump’s ire at the program.
“While there’s no smoking gun, Trump’s DNA is all over this,” he said.
“Donald Trump has always raged against 60 Minutes,” Cartwright said, pointing out that the president sued the program for millions.
The changes at 60 Minutes come as the show is performing strongly in the ratings, and has a respected reputation.
“If it ain’t broke why are you fixing it?” Cartwright asked. “They are going to blow up the most respected program.
He speculated that new executive producer Nick Bilton got the job because he “probably met Bari Weiss at a dinner party in LA and they got along.”
Cartwright, who has worked with Bilton at Vanity Fair, said he had no television or managerial experience and was a lazy and opportunistic journalist who is “the type that looks at a story and he looks to monetize it.”
He said there was no reason to axe veteran executive producer Tanya Simon, except to completely change the editorial direction.
“If you want to dismantle the program...you have to bring in an outsider to really blow it up,” Cartwright said.
Paramount CEO Ellison is one of the many billionaires who have courted the Trump administration, cozying up to the 79-year-old president and doing his bidding at CBS.
Installing Weiss at CBS News and firing Stephen Colbert are two of the highest-profile appeasements he’s made so far.
