Scott Pelley is fired. Veteran anchor fired by CBS News after ripping into the direction of the network ever since Barry Weiss was appointed. The day before the staff meeting led by New 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton, former tech columnist, no experience producing television [00:00:22] news programs. Pelley challenged his new boss, partly over Barry Weiss's leadership. Here's a reminder of what Pelley said, quoting, she's murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this [00:00:37] place. She was brought in to kill it. And she's doing exactly that, said Pelley. She has no qualifications for a job. You have slender qualifications for this job. The changes that she's made at [00:00:53] the evening news have been catastrophic. So why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better? Pelley asked. Again, this is in an open meeting where he decided to speak up. Of course, the host, the anchor, the recognizable face is considered a newsroom leader. And sometimes [00:01:13] you have to lay it on the line and expend that leadership capital. And Scott Pelley did. He also criticized Milton directly, telling him, quote, He would never be welcomed at the show and calling out Bilton's slender qualifications for the job. Well, that enraged Bilton. He [00:01:35] was furious. He fired Scott Pelley quickly. And here's what he said in his letter to Pelley, which, you know, all this stuff is now public. Do emails to people and letters. This was probably delivered via FedEx. How do I know? Well, I've been fired before. It was my pleasure. Okay. [00:01:55] to sound off, the truth and leave. Ha ha. Yesterday you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt. Yesterday's [00:02:12] 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 or approaching my new tenure with an open mind to collaboration and progress. [00:02:34] Despite yesterday's misconduct, I had hoped that in sitting down with you today, we could find a path forward together. You made clear that you're not interested in such a path. Here in Tippity. to the future of the show has come through loud and clear. I have heard you. [00:02:55] I therefore write on behalf of CBS News Inc. to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated for cause, effective immediately. Wow. Now, listen, when you talk to your boss [00:03:13] that way, even if he doesn't have any qualifications, what do you expect? You're gonna get fired. But when you sit silent, when your boss has no qualifications and his boss is brought into murder, one of the most iconic historic investigative journalism shows of all time that's been a [00:03:35] leader for decades into the last several years where it's been infected with this kind of partisan fake newsery. When you don't speak up, then you're green lighting what has to happen. When you choose millions of dollars over the truth, it comes at a great price. [00:03:59] Scott Pelley said price was too high. So he took his coins, the ones apparently he's already earned, because he's not gonna get more when they fire you for cause, and he left. Well, he was pushed out, but he's a smart guy. He knew this was coming. Nick Bilton then addressed [00:04:15] the remaining staff. Pelling told the Times that Weiss refused to answer his questions about why she had fired correspondent Sharon Alfonso and Cecilia Vega last week. He said Weiss's behavior was quote, cold and callous and beneath the dignity of CBS News. Is he [00:04:36] talking about the old CBS or the new CBS? Okay, because if he's talking about the new CBS, there's no dignity left. She was kind of just, I don't know, doing what the CBS News calls for. It's fake, it's unreal. And even though there's probably some good journalists who [00:04:54] remain there, they must understand that they're working for a fake outlet. They are collecting checks, we hope, because that's why a lot of people stay. They can't afford to go. They can't afford to be without healthcare. But the fact is they are working for a fake news organization [00:05:09] with an agenda that is anti... democracy that is anti-truth, that is anti-free press. These are facts. Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best [00:05:28] on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias. They [00:05:43] stood for professionalism against chaos. Oliver Darcy filling in the reporting. For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. [00:06:02] I've been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I've managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Gee, that's horrific. Giving politicians [00:06:22] control over 60 minutes interviews is not how this is done. It is now. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism is the new management. in the new management have wreaked havoc. Well, [00:06:39] that's what it's designed to do. You can't have capitulation unless you start with chaos. And that's what they're doing here. Barry Weiss trying to get people to come over from Fox News, Barry Weiss trying to hire. hacks, far right, goofy podcasters, injecting them into [00:07:03] the broadcast. Barry Weiss telling Tony DeCople, you get the evening news. And what did he really get? He got a lack of credibility for life's work in journalism that he should never ever be again taken seriously for. He got the money. And he got everything that came with [00:07:23] it. And in this case, it's a lack of complete credibility. Scott Pelley. Perhaps this is the end for him, but he went out in a blaze of glory.