Various figures have weighed in on Scott Pelley’s recent dismissal from 60 Minutes. Since then, Pelley himself has discussed his side of the show. During a recent interview, Pelley even shared a few words concerning one figure in particular: CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
Scott Pelley Is One Of Multiple Figures Who Recently Lost His Position At 60 Minutes
Since the installation of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief, viewers have seen several changes occur at CBS News, especially concerning 60 Minutes. Over the past few weeks, in addition to Anderson Cooper making his departure from the show, figures including Cecilia Vega, Sharyn Alfonsi, and Tanya Simon have been let go.
One figure whose dismissal from the series that has especially made headlines was Scott Pelley. Reportedly, he had been dismissed following a staff meeting in which he clashed with Weiss and the recently appointed executive producer Nick Bilton.
Since the news came out, various figures have weighed in on the story. Recently, Pelley himself discussed his side of the story with The New York Times. He shared, “My hope is that the leadership of Paramount will say to themselves, this isn’t working.”
As Pelley continued, he noted all the issues impacting the network behind the scenes. He shared, “We have broadcasts that almost don’t get on the air. We have respected journalists saying that there is a thumb on the scale for one political party over another. We have a broadcast that is among the most important in America. The most successful in the history of all television. It was doing great, so why are we making these changes?”
Pelley Shared That He Felt Bari Weiss Should’ve Turned Down Her Recent Job Offer
Pelley described the dismissal of his aforementioned colleagues as “Black Thursday.” During the interview, Pelley discussed one figure he thought could be next to be replaced. This was Bari Weiss herself.
As Pelley shared, “Look, she’s a lovely person. And her Free Press organization that she founded has been very successful. But television’s not her thing. This is like somebody walking up to me and saying, ‘There’s a 747, there are 400 people on it, we need you to fly it to Paris.’ I’m going to decline because I don’t have a clue. And it would have been so much better if Bari Weiss had been offered this job and said, ‘Oh, that’s not for me, I don’t know how to do that.’”
Despite this, Pelley felt that his former employer still had a chance for survival. However, he still felt that things weren’t in a good place. He continued, “We need adult supervision and at the moment we don’t have it.”
“We have people who’ve been installed in these jobs, who through no fault of their own, have no experience in television. They don’t know what they’re doing. And there’s a subtle political bias that I’ve never seen at 60 Minutes before, or at CBS News before. So that is my hope: a return to sanity. We can save this. It’s possible to land this plane. But right now, CBS News is on fire.”
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John Witiw has been a writer since at least 2015. He’s covered a variety of topics, especially when it comes to film and television.
