'60 Minutes' Star Scott Pelley Claims Bari Weiss Is 'Murdering' Show and Rages 'She Has No Qualifications for Her Job' in Shock Meeting With New Boss
'60 Minutes' Star Scott Pelley Claims Bari Weiss Is 'Murdering' Show and Rages 'She Has No Qualifications for Her Job' in Shock Meeting With New Boss
Beth Shilliday Mon, June 1, 2026 at 11:48 PM UTC
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Scott Pelley raged about CBS News chief Bari Weiss during a contentious meeting with the new '60 Minutes' executive producer.MEGA, The Free Press/YouTube
60 Minutes veteran correspondent Scott Pelley reportedly unleashed on CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss' job qualifications and claimed she's "murdering" the show in a heated meeting with his new boss, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Weiss, 42, was not present for the blowup between Pelley, 68, and the show's new executive producer, Nick Bilton – the hand-picked choice of the former Free Press boss to lead the storied newsmagazine into a new era.
Nick Bilton Claims Bari Weiss 'Loves 60 Minutes'
Nick Bilton was named the new E.P. of '60 Minutes' on May 28.David Perell/YouTube
Bilton's hiring was announced on May 28, and he tried to lead a friendly meet-and-greet with staffers on June 1, but Pelley's temper tantrum cut the meeting short.
The former New York Times tech writer, 49, was joined by CBS News managing editor Charles Forelle, a close colleague of Weiss'. In audio from the meeting the New York Times, Bilton explained that he wasn't going to make any drastic changes to the show.
"For me, the journalism is the journalism. That is why I am here. That is why we are all here," he told staffers, according to the tape.
“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 continued, but then warned of the industry, “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting."
Bilton also gushed to staffers that Weiss “loves 60 Minutes," and that's when Pelley exploded.
Scott Pelley Claimed Bari Weiss Was 'Brought in to Kill 60 Minutes'
Scott Pelley was openly critical of both Bari Weiss and his new '60 Minutes' executive producer Nick Bilton.60 Minutes/YouTube
The show veteran raged, "She is murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that."
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Pelley then fumed not only about former New York Times opinion editor, but also about his brand-new boss, who has a background as an author and documentary filmmaker. Neither has worked in TV news until their current positions.
"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?" the Texas native erupted.
Scott Pelley Told New Boss 'You Will Never Be Welcome Here'
Scott Pelley has been working for '60 Minutes' since 2004.60 Minutes/YouTube
Pelley then made it clear to Bilton that he will never find a happy home at 60 Minutes, especially after the recent terminations of his predecessor, Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, in what is now known as "Black Thursday."
According to the audio obtained by theTimes, Pelley asked Bilton why he accepted his new position with the show, "knowing that you will never be welcome here."
Per the Times, Bilton replied, "I have no problem taking a job in a place that I am not welcome in. I don’t think that will be the case."
"I have been a journalist for 25 years, Scott. I’ve sat across from incredibly powerful people like you have, and none of it intimidates me. OK? So you are not going to intimidate me in front of this group of people. I want that to be clear," he added.
The meeting ended after a brief 15 minutes and the room erupted in applause for Pelley following Bilton's departure, according to the outlet.
Bari Weiss Praised New '60 Minutes' Executive Producer as 'The Perfect Leader'
Bari Weiss was hired in October 2025 to bring CBS News in a more centrist direction. Real Time with Bill Maher/YouTube
In the announcement about Bilton's hiring, Weiss called him "one of the most entrepreneurial journalists of our time and the perfect leader for one of the most entrepreneurial news brands of all time."
CBS News president Tom Cibrowski shared that Bilton's hiring "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."
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
