CBS News fires '60 Minutes' correspondent Scott Pelley for cause

Scott Pelley, then a journalist on the CBS News program '60 minutes', was fired for cause.
Charles Sykes/AP Photo
CBS News fired on Tuesday (2) correspondent journalist for the program "60 Minutes", Scott Pelley, amid disagreements over the future of the attraction and a series of recent changes at the network.
Pelley's departure was confirmed to Reuters by CBS sources in an email sent by the show's executive producer. program, Nick Bilton, in which he states that the professional relationship was terminated "for cause, with immediate effect".
According to Bilton, the journalist's resistance to the proposed changes was decisive in the decision. "Your antipathy for the future of the series was very clear. And I heard it," he wrote.
In another excerpt, Bilton accused Pelley of having dominated a team meeting to discredit him and question his abilities and intentions, in an episode marked, according to him, by "a lack of civility and contempt."
Now on g1
Pelley, 68 years old and a member of CBS News since 1989, did not immediately respond to requests for comment made by Reuters.
According to American media outlets, however, Pelley had released a statement in which he stated that the new owner of CBS is discarding the "legend" of the iconic news program "apparently to gain favor with the Trump administration."
"Last month, 60 Minutes lost its essence when our entire board of directors and two of our best correspondents were cruelly fired without cause," Pelley wrote in a statement cited by American media outlets.
In recent statements reproduced by the press American, the journalist had already criticized the network's new direction and stated that the iconic "60 Minutes" is being defaced. According to the journalist, recent changes - including layoffs of executives and correspondents - would have made the program "lose its essence".
In an internal meeting, Pelley also accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of "killing" the program.
Pelley joins more than half a dozen people who have left the primetime Sunday news program in the US in recent weeks. CBS has fired executive producer Tanya Simon and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. In an internal statement, Bilton acknowledged "a huge amount of change in a very short period of time" in the program.
Skydance Media is led by David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and former supporter of American President Donald Trump. According to the company, the new guidance seeks to reflect "diverse ideological perspectives" of the United States public.
Before the merger, Paramount also paid US$16 million (R$80.3 million) to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump in 2024, related to a "60 Minutes" interview with then vice-president Kamala Harris, which, according to him, had distorted his image during the electoral dispute.
The political environment has also influenced the relationship between the press and the government. Since returning to the White House, Trump has intensified criticism of media outlets, which he often classifies as propagators of "fake news".
CBS, the traditional American open television broadcaster, has already had historic names in journalism on its staff, such as Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. "60 Minutes", shown on Sundays, is the longest running prime time program in the United States.
*With information from news agencies Reuters and AFP.

Source: G1