Scott Pelley Pushes Back Against CBS News Chief Bari Weiss’s Description of His Departure

Veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley is pushing back against CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss’s description of the events leading to his departure from the network, disputing her claim that efforts were made to repair a fractured relationship before he was fired.

It came after Weiss addressed staff during a Wednesday editorial meeting, where she attributed the split to a breakdown in trust and mutual respect within the newsroom.

Weiss told staff that a “foundation” of trust had been damaged and that attempts to engage with Pelley to restore the relationship ultimately failed. She claims Pelley’s termination was not a decision she wanted to make but ultimately it was the path “he chose.”

In response, Pelley disputed her account of the situation, arguing that efforts to reconcile were either insufficient or never meaningfully pursued.

“I’m saddened to see the transcript of the CBS News morning editorial meeting,” Pelley said in a statement Wednesday. “Bari Weiss knows what she said is not true.”

“In the meeting on Tuesday, in which I was effectively fired, there was no effort of any kind to ‘find a way back,’ as Weiss said in the editorial meeting,” Pelley added.

“At no point did anyone in the Tuesday meeting suggest that there could be steps taken by either side that would lead to a resolution.”

Pelley was fired late Tuesday after a heated meeting with new Executive Producer Nick Bilton, Weiss, and CBS staff, where he challenged network executives and questioned recent personnel changes.

“Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” Bilton wrote in the termination email, which was obtained by The Epoch Times. “I welcome a diversity of viewpoints and respectful debate among the team, but this was nothing of the sort.”

“Despite yesterday’s misconduct, I had hoped that in sitting down with you today we could find a path forward together,” Bilton added. “You made clear that you are not interested in such a path.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to both Pelley and CBS News for comment on the matter, but did not hear back by publication time.

Last week, the network also parted ways with former executive producer Tanya Simon as well as correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.

In a statement on Substack, Alfonsi confirmed the news, noting her contract expired over Memorial Day weekend but pointing to an “intense” editorial dispute over a story involving a notorious El Salvador prison.

Meanwhile, Vega took to Instagram to announce that she was fired on May 28 from her role at “60 Minutes,” alleging she and other producers faced efforts to inject what she regarded as political bias into stories they were working on.

Jill McLaughlin contributed to this report.