Tipsheet

Scott Pelley Had a Meltdown Over Bari Weiss and Nick Bilton Running CBS

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  June 02, 2026 8:00 AM

The Left and the legacy media are very unhappy that former New York Times Editor and Free Press founder Bari Weiss is calling the shots at CBS now. They've been complaining about her for a while, claiming she's going to turn the network and its most prominent shows — '60 Minutes' and the 'CBS Evening News' — into propaganda for the Trump administration.

That's incredibly revealing, of course, because Weiss, who is not a conservative, is going to do no such thing. What she expects is a fair and balanced approach to news stories that show both sides. The Left is so entrenched in believing the legacy media exist solely as propagandists and stenographers for the DNC that even a slight shift to neutrality is considered kowtowing to Republicans.

Scott Pelley, who has been a reporter with CBS for more than three decades, reportedly had an explosive meeting with Weiss and Nick Bilton, who has been asked to head up '60 Minutes' under Weiss. Pelley's meltdown came at a staff meeting in which Pelley accused Weiss of 'murdering' the program and told Bilton he would never be welcomed at the network.

Here's more:

In an extraordinary exchange, Mr. Pelley, his newscaster’s baritone sometimes shaking in anger, told Nick Bilton, the new executive producer, that he had “slender” qualifications for his new job and questioned the network’s commitment to the future of the program, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The New York Times.

The 10 a.m. gathering, held at the program’s Midtown Manhattan headquarters, was intended as a formal introduction to Mr. Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker who was appointed last week as part of a major shake-up at “60 Minutes.” CBS fired Tanya Simon, the previous executive producer, and her deputy, along with Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, two of the show’s correspondents — an event that Mr. Pelley referred to as “Black Thursday.”

The meeting quickly turned tense — not a surprise after months of strain between veteran journalists at “60 Minutes” and Ms. Weiss, an opinion journalist who was a longtime critic of legacy media institutions before she became the head of one last year. She was appointed by David Ellison, a tech scion who took control of CBS’s parent company, Paramount, in a multibillion-dollar merger.

The audacity and privilege. Some are calling for Pelley's removal from the network.

Of course, the Left would claim that firing Pelley is retaliation for his behavior, but if Weiss and Bilton don't address what Pelley did, they'll face resistance from the staff.

Other sources confirmed Pelley's refusal to accept a private meeting with Weiss and Bilton.

Others pointed out that it's not Bari Weiss who is 'killing' '60 Minutes,' but that the network's history of ignoring stories that could harm Democrats and Leftists causes is responsible for its decline and current state.

CBS has done good work covering the Medicaid fraud scandal in California and reporting on Gavin Newsom's high-speed rail boondoggle. And back in January, 'CBS Evening News' anchor Tony Dokoupil addressed viewers directly, telling them he knows the audiences don't trust the media. "A lot has changed since the first person sat in this chair," Dokoupil said, "but for me, the biggest difference is people do not trust us like they used to. And it's not just us, it's all of legacy media. And I get it. I get it because I've been hearing about it from just about everybody for more than 20 years as I've traveled America on this assignment or that."

Dokoupil added, "I've felt like what I was seeing and hearing on the news didn't reflect what I was seeing and hearing in my own life. And that the most urgent questions simply weren't being asked. So here's my promise to you today, and every time you see me in this chair. You come first. Not advertisers, not politicians, not corporate interests."

And that's what Pelley is so angry about?