The hosts of Fox News’ The Five could barely contain their delight over Scott Pelley’s firing, ridiculing the longtime 60 Minutes star as “pompous” and arguing the legendary newsmagazine had “murdered itself.”
The panel’s joy proves—if proof were needed—that Trump sycophant David Ellison’s destruction of CBS is taking shape. Newly installed executive producer Nick Bilton fired Pelley after a dramatic showdown over the future of 60 Minutes.
Pelley, 68, who had worked at CBS since 1989 and served as a 60 Minutes correspondent for more than two decades, was terminated on Tuesday after confronting Bilton and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss during a staff meeting.
Pelley demanded answers about a wave of firings at the network, including the departures of correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, longtime executive producer Tanya Simon, and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich.
He also accused Weiss of having “no qualifications” for her job and of “murdering” 60 Minutes.
But the Fox News hosts argued Pelley had brought the situation on himself.
“This guy throws a tantrum in public view, then he leaks it to everyone to amplify his appearance as some kind of hero,” co-host Greg Gutfeld said.
“He just looks like a cartoon because he is a cartoon.”
“This is the second time—he got axed from the anchor chair of the CBS Evening News. He got axed again," co-host Jesse Watters added.
“He’s been there for 37 years. He wanted to go, and it was his time to go.”
Co-host Martha MacCallum was equally unsympathetic, arguing Pelley intentionally torched the meeting because he knew his days at 60 Minutes were numbered.
“I think he knew he was gonna get fired, so he blew up the meeting because he wanted to go out with a bang,” she said.
Co-host Kayleigh McEnany, who served as White House press secretary during Donald Trump’s first term, argued that the turmoil at 60 Minutes was self-inflicted.
“A lot of people would argue, Jesse, that 60 Minutes murdered itself,” she said.
Watters agreed, describing the show as “bloated,” “woke,” and “stuck in the past.”
He argued CBS would need to “clean house” and “change the culture” if it hoped to reinvent the program.
But Pelley has painted a different picture of the turmoil engulfing the show.
In a lengthy statement released after his firing, the veteran correspondent accused CBS’ new leadership of dismantling one of television journalism’s most respected institutions in an effort to win favor with President Donald Trump. The newsmagazine has long been the most highly rated news show on network TV, bringing in an average of 9.1 million viewers a week.
“The new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration,” Pelley said.
Pelley also alleged that new management had instructed him to “inject falsehoods and bias” into a politically sensitive story and pressured him to include unverified claims on air.
“The collapse of values at the top has become untenable,” he wrote.
“The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable.”
In his termination letter, Bilton accused Pelley of “misconduct” and a “performative display of hostility,” while claiming the correspondent had shown “antipathy to the future success” of the program.
For the hosts of The Five, the letter simply confirmed what they already believed—that one of television’s most recognizable journalists had finally worn out his welcome.
“He was asking to get axed,” Watters said.
