"She was brought in to kill it": Scott Pelley reportedly accuses Bari Weiss of "murdering" 60 Minutes during heated staff meeting

Scott Pelley reportedly lashed out at the management of CBS News during a staff meeting at 60 Minutes, accusing Bari Weiss of deliberately sabotaging the news program.

According to an audio recording and a source cited by NBC News, the confrontation occurred on June 1, during a meeting introducing Nick Bilton, who has been tapped by the News Editor-in-Chief to oversee 60 Minutes.

Upon referring to Weiss loving this organization, Scott Pelley interrupted:

"She is murdering '60 Minutes.'"

Pelley went on:

"She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she's been doing exactly that."

In addition, the source further revealed that Scott Pelley questioned Bari Weiss' credentials, as well as telling Nick Bilton that he had "slender qualifications" to serve as executive producer of the show.

This incident reveals the increasing friction within the context of deciding on the future course of action for 60 Minutes, an acclaimed newsmagazine in American television.

CBS News has yet to provide any statement in response to these comments.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Scott Pelley also also criticized Bari Weiss "catastrophic" modifications to the CBS Evening News. He also queried Nick Bilton's suitability to assume a position on the show where he was not welcome, as per the transcript.

Bilton, however, seemed unfazed and responded:

"I have been a journalist for 25 years, Scott. I have sat and talked with incredibly powerful people like you have. None of it intimidates me, OK?"

Anderson Cooper's departure from 60 Minutes

The alleged incident occurs just weeks after Anderson Cooper formally leaves 60 Minutes, having served as a correspondent on the show for two decades.

In his farewell video, the veteran news anchor reflected on the history of the show and recalled fondly his experiences at CBS' popular news magazine program.

"So this is crazy. This is my last shoot for 60 Minutes. 60 Minutes has always been a place, at least for me, that you get to step into somebody else's shoes. You get to see things through their eyes and see what their struggles are and what they are facing, and you learn from that."

Anderson Cooper also mentioned walking through the same halls as some of his heroes, including Morley Safer, Ed Bradley, Mike Wallace, and Bob Simon.

"You never knew what you were going to get, but you were willing to go for the ride because you trust the people on it that was going to be a good story. To me, what was great about 60 Minutes was the mix of stories, like a hard-hitting piece of journalism, an investigative report."

Meanwhile, Anderson Cooper cited his increasing family as the factors which motivated him to leave his position in 60 Minutes.

"So, I've worked mostly for 60 Minutes on weekends, and my vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces. I've loved it but it's been tough. I always imagine, like, 'Okay, when I don't want to be in the daily news grind, I'd love to just tell 60 Minutes stories.' But when I had kids, the reality of having kids is different than anything you can kind of imagine."

Trending

He continued:

"I've got a 4-year-old and a, just now, 6-year-old, and I want to spend as much time with them as I can while they still want to spend time with me. And those days, that clock is ticking, I think."

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback