Scott Pelley on His Firing and the ‘Massacre’ at ‘60 Minutes’ | The Interview

Scott Pelley accuses new CBS leadership of political interference and incompetence that led to his firing after 37 years.

• Political thumb on scale — Weiss pushed to describe events in a Minneapolis ICE protest story to match the president's version despite conflicting video evidence [40:00]

• Black Thursday massacre — Entire senior staff including executive producer Tanya Simon plus one-third of correspondents fired after a record audience growth year [03:40]

• New boss imposition — Nick Bilton with zero TV news experience installed without explanation and sent an insulting memo claiming 60 Minutes was stuck in 1968 [05:14]

• Staff meeting clash — Pelley spoke up for the team after Bilton read a statement off his phone to 50 devastated colleagues and offered bagels instead of answers [09:12]

• Firing meeting details — Executives accused Pelley of physical abuse then refused to explain any of the firings before ending the 10-minute session [19:14]

• Deadline breach — Weiss notes arrived four hours after the noon cutoff and nearly caused the entire broadcast to miss air during the Grammys [35:24]

• Emotional impact — Pelley compares the firings to his spouse being murdered and says he cares only about the colleagues left behind [02:17]

• Why does inexperience at the top create bigger risks than bias for legacy newsrooms?

• How do war-zone bonds among correspondents affect decisions to stay during leadership upheaval?