CBS News has terminated veteran correspondent Scott Pelley’s contract just one day after a heated staff meeting involving the show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton. Pelley, who has been with CBS News since 1989 and served as a correspondent on “60 Minutes
CBS News didn’t wait long to draw a line through Scott Pelley’s “60 Minutes” chapter.
On June 2. 2026. the network terminated Pelley’s contract one day after a fiery clash with the show’s newly appointed executive producer. Nick Bilton. The dispute reportedly flared during a staff meeting this week, shortly after Bilton was introduced to the newsroom. Pelley openly criticized the decision. and tensions escalated fast enough that a letter followed the next day—stating CBS News was terminating him immediately.
Pelley’s reported comments went beyond the personnel shake-up. During the clash, he accused CBS News chief Bari Weiss of dismantling the culture that made “60 Minutes” a television institution. He also reportedly questioned why Bilton would accept the role while facing resistance from longtime staffers.
CBS News brought Pelley in during 1989, and over the years he became one of the network’s most recognizable faces. He served as an anchor of the “CBS Evening News” and spent more than two decades as a correspondent for “60 Minutes.” His sudden termination adds another sharp turn to a program already caught in internal turbulence.
Staff members have reportedly been divided over major editorial and management changes since Paramount’s merger with Skydance. led by media executive David Ellison. With Pelley’s firing. that strain—over the direction of the long-running newsmagazine and who controls it—now moves from meetings and arguments into immediate consequences.
The shock isn’t just that CBS News moved quickly. It’s that the timing leaves little room for anyone to interpret the conflict as something contained to a bad day in the newsroom. For a show built on stability, the message landed hard: one clash, one letter, and the contract was gone.
CBS News Scott Pelley 60 Minutes Nick Bilton Bari Weiss David Ellison Paramount Skydance CBS Evening News media turmoil