Scott Pelley, terminated from “60 Minutes,” accuses CBS News owner David Ellison of “casting aside” the program to curry favor with the Trump administration. In a lengthy exit statement, Pelley also reiterates claims that “new management” pushed him to inject
Scott Pelley didn’t leave “60 Minutes” quietly.
In a lengthy exit note released after he was terminated from the storied newsmagazine on Tuesday evening. the former longtime anchor turned his focus to the man now steering CBS News: Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison. Pelley described Ellison as “casting this legend aside,” suggesting the move was aimed at winning favor with the Trump administration.
Pelley’s swipe landed as Paramount Skydance seeks final approval from the Trump administration’s Department of Justice over the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
His exit comes after a separate fight inside “60 Minutes.” Earlier in the week, Pelley clashed with executive producer Nick Bilton, accusing editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the program.
In the Tuesday statement, Pelley doubled down on his concerns about leadership changes. He singled out Weiss’ recent firings of Tanya Simon, Sharyn Alfonsi, and Cecilia Vega. “’60 Minutes’ lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. ” Pelley wrote. “Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience.”.
He framed those departures as a collision between professionalism and politics, writing that the fired staffers “stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.”
Pelley also reiterated accusations he made earlier Tuesday to The New York Times. saying “new management [had] instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.” In his exit note. he alleged that he’d been told to include claims that were “unverified. ” adding that in every case he refused the instructions.
He went further, saying “politicians have been given ‘control over ’60 Minutes’ interviews.’” In his view, that is a line that should not be crossed: “Giving politicians control over ’60 Minutes’ interviews is not how this is done.”
Pelley said incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management “wreaked havoc,” citing an incident where one of his stories came within 19 minutes of not making it on the air.
The dispute did not end with Pelley’s claims. After his termination, Bilton sent a memo to staff defending his own actions. Bilton said he “made repeated attempts to have direct conversations with him over the weekend. and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. ” before adding: “that was not the path Scott chose.” Bilton also said he offered “unyielding support” to the remaining staffers at “60 Minutes.”.
The statement itself sounded like a farewell and a verdict. Pelley called “60 Minutes” a unique institution—“the most successful program of any kind in history”—and recalled its “unheard-of 9% jump in viewers on CBS” this spring at the end of its 58th season. He also wrote that for more than a decade the show’s growth across major online platforms had reached “countless millions around the world.”.
But as he described it, the show’s identity was being lost. “Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside,” he wrote, calling it “The waste is heartbreaking.”
Pelley said he is leaving after 37 years at CBS. with gratitude for colleagues who. he wrote. “encouraged and enriched my work. very often at the risk of their own lives.” He ended with a prayer for “a day when those people and their ideals are honored again—a day when sanity. competence. and courage return.”.
Representatives for CBS News and Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For now, the fight over what “60 Minutes” should be—guided by journalists or shaped by politics—has moved from studio hallways into Pelley’s final written words.
Scott Pelley David Ellison 60 Minutes CBS News Paramount Skydance Nick Bilton Bari Weiss Tanya Simon Sharyn Alfonsi Cecilia Vega Warner Bros. Discovery merger Department of Justice Trump administration