“60 Minutes’” Scott Pelley Dramatically Fired from CBS After Heated Meeting with New Exec Who Claims Correspondent ‘Ambushed’ Him

Angelique BrenesWed, June 3, 2026 at 2:25 AM UTC

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Scott Pelley for 60 Minutes
Credit: Michele Crowe/CBS News -

Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley has been fired from CBS following a heated confrontation with the show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton, during a staff meeting

Pelley's termination letter obtained by PEOPLE accuses the longtime 60 Minutes correspondent of “ambush,” “hostility” and “misconduct”

The dramatic letter claims Pelley “hijacked” a meeting and showed “no interest in contributing to the future success of the show”

Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley has been fired from CBS following a heated confrontation with the show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton, who accused the longtime journalist of “ambush,” “hostility” and “misconduct” in a striking termination letter obtained by PEOPLE.

In the letter, which is signed by Bilton, Pelley is informed that his employment with CBS has been “terminated for cause effective immediately.”

“It is a profound disappointment that you rejected that overture and chose ambush instead,” the letter states. “Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt.”

The letter continues by accusing Pelley of showing “performative display[s] of hostility” and having “no interest in contributing to the future success of the show.”

“I am here to deliver first-in-class news programming, not to make headlines about newsroom drama,” the letter claims. “I am eager to work alongside those who share this goal.”

“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” the letter later adds. “And I have heard you.”

The firing comes after Pelley allegedly clashed with Bilton during a tense staff meeting at 60 Minutes, according to The New York Times and The Guardian.

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According to those reports, Bilton told staff that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss “loves 60 Minutes,” prompting Pelley to respond: “She’s murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place, she was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”

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“She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job,” Pelley reportedly continued, according to The New York Times. “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?”

Bilton reportedly responded: “Well, I will show you. That’s what I have to say. That is my plan over the next two weeks. I’ll be meeting with everyone. I’m very excited to meet with everyone, yourself included.”

Bilton was appointed executive producer last week as part of a broader leadership overhaul at the legacy CBS news program, according to previous reporting by PEOPLE.

PEOPLE has contacted CBS and Pelley for comment.

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