Scott Pelley gives emotional first interview about '60 Minutes' firing
Scott Pelley gives emotional first interview about '60 Minutes' firing
Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYSun, June 7, 2026 at 2:43 PM UTC
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Scott Pelley is comparing his exit from "60 Minutes" to the death of a spouse.
The journalist, 68, sat down for an emotional conversation on The New York Times' "The Interview" podcastreleased on Sunday, June 7, days after he was fired from the CBS show amid a clash with executives.
Pelley, who choked up several times during the hour-long podcast conversation, said he was blindsided by the decision to fire him.
"The best thing that I can imagine in terms of describing it is that it's like your spouse was murdered," he said. "There's some moments of the day I feel fine. There's some moments of the day that I just, frankly, fall apart, when I least expect it."
Scott Pelley attends a celebration of the announcement of CBS's fall schedule at Paramount Studios in Hollywood on May 2, 2024.
Pelley added that he doesn't feel "sorry" for himself, but cares about the "people that I left behind" at "60 Minutes" and about "this institution that I love so much."
'60 Minutes' correspondent Scott Pelley fired after criticizing CBS execs
Pelley was fired from "60 Minutes" after more than two decades following a heated staff meeting where he criticized CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and newly installed "60 Minutes" executive producer Nick Bilton.
According to a recording obtained by The New York Times, Pelley accused Weiss of "murdering" "60 Minutes" and said Bilton had "slender" qualifications for his role at the meeting, which came in the wake of mass firings of "60 Minutes" senior leaders.
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In a termination note, Bilton chastised Pelley for "misconduct," saying that he "hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt." This "performative display of hostility — enacted in front of the staff instead of in a civil, private conversation — demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show," he added.
On "The Interview," Pelley accused Bilton of "callousness" and "tone deafness" in the way he read a statement from his phone to "brokenhearted" employees at the meeting, and he said "somebody had to stand up" for the staff. But even after he spoke out, Pelley said he didn't expect to be fired. "It hadn't occurred to me," he said.
Pelley argued Weiss should lose her job, and he accused her of putting a "thumb on the scale on behalf of" President Donald Trump, citing editorial notes she gave on a piece about protests against Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis this year.
In a statement shared with USA TODAY, CBS said Weiss' notes "had no political motivation and were proposed solely to make the piece as strong, fair, and accurate as possible."
Why was Scott Pelley fired? Explaining recent '60 Minutes' controversy
"We need adult supervision and at the moment we don't have it," Pelley told the Times. "We have people who've been installed in these jobs who, through no fault of their own, have no experience in television. It's not their fault, but 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."
In an Instagram post on June 6, Pelley thanked fans for their support as he shared a photo of himself on a boat. He wrote, "To all of you who have been so kind, you are the wind in my sails. So deeply grateful."
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman and Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Scott Pelley gets emotional about '60 Minutes' firing in new interview
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