‘CBS Mornings’ Addresses Pelley Firing as NBC Fears for Future of ‘60 Minutes’

Curtis Houck
June 3rd, 2026 11:33 AM

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Wednesday’s CBS Mornings opened with a surprising yet short acknowledgment of the drama surrounding the network with Tuesday night’s firing of longtime host and correspondent Scott Pelley for rancorous insubordination and preposterous martyrdom a day earlier, berating new 60 Minutes boss Nick Bilton to his face and accusing editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of murdering the uppity newsmagazine.

Following its “Eye Opener” video, featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers took on the task of solemnly telling viewers: “All right, before we get to the news this morning, we want to share with you some news about ourselves and long-time 60 Minutes correspondent, Scott Pelley.”

Duthiers followed with a predictably abridged and monotone version of events: 

On Monday, new executive producer Nick Bilton called an all-hands meeting to introduce himself to the staff. That meeting became contentious when Pelley publicly questioned the management decisions regarding the replacement of the former 60 Minutes executive producer, Tanya Simon, and publicly criticized the decisions of CBS News management on the future direction of 60 Minutes. According to CBS News management, efforts were made to see if both sides could reach common ground. Pelley met with senior management of CBS News last night, and no agreement could be reached. Pelley was then informed by 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton that CBS News and 60 Minutes would have to part ways with Scott. He was terminated for cause. 

He followed with two snippets from Pelley’s goodbye message to colleagues, doling out “gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work very often at the risk of their own lives” and that he “pray[s] for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again, a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.”

Someone tell Scott Pelley that (a) 60 Minutes isn’t a person, and (b) arrogant narcissists are not given some holy right to determine what makes or breaks journalism.

Duthiers concluded with this sentence from Bilton’s e-mail to staff about Pelley’s canning: “What I will commit to this is this: my unyielding support for each of you and the journalism that you do and what we will do together going forward.”

Co-host Nate Burleson took the pivot to news on the war with Iran, but not before he ad-libbed a brief note of support for Pelley: “Yeah, we know his impact on journalism and this network is undeniable.”

As for their broadcast network competitors, ABC’s Good Morning America has yet to weigh in on the hoopla while NBC’s Today covered it both Tuesday and Wednesday, and feared for the future of this “beloved” show that’s “one of America’s landmark newscasts.”

“Off the clock. Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley fired by CBS after his dramatic showdown with his new bosses. The company saying he left them no choice. Pelley standing his ground overnight. We’ll hear from both sides,” co-host Savannah Guthrie declared in the first of three teases.

Later, correspondent Erin McLaughlin had the story leading off the second half-hour, declaring “Pelley’s dismissal came in a strongly worded termination letter” from Bilton following “Pelley’s very public criticism of him in front of staff.”

“And for Pelley’s part, he’s telling NBC News the show lost its DNA when some of the staff was fired without cause last week, saying they were silenced for standing up for their audience,” she added.

She fretted the decision to ax Pelley by 60 Minutes’s “controversial leader” in Bilton has triggered a “very public crisis” for “one of America’s landmark newscasts.”

She delivered her own summation of Monday’s pre-pubescent meltdown, aired a clip of analysis from Puck’s Dylan Byers, and read excerpts of Pelley’s farewell statement (click “expand”):

MCLAUGHLIN: In a staff meeting, Pelley attacked Bilton’s qualifications and blasted the news network’s leadership, according to a source in the room and an audio recording obtained by NBC News. Now, Bilton writing to Pelly in a scathing termination letter obtained by NBC News: “You hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me,” saying it “demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show.” In a separate note to staffers, Bilton saying he made repeated attempts to speak with Pelley to no avail.

DYLAN BYERS: He felt like Scott Pelley was tempting fate here. He knew that he was becoming a sort of leader of a resistance.

MCLAUGHLIN: Pelley, who spent nearly four decades at the network responded with the blistering statement of his own overnight, writing: “New management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them,” adding “incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc.”

McLaughlin put it mildly when she said “Pelley has been critical of CBS News chief Bari Weiss” by saying she’s “murder[ed]” the Sunday newsmagazine.

She took Pelley’s side of the political divide, of course:

Turmoil has been brewing since David Ellison took over CBS News’s parent company Paramount last year. Ellison looking to expand his empire with a major merger, currently awaiting regulatory approval from the Trump administration. Pelley now saying the new owner is making changes “apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.”

The NBC reporter wrapped by conceding “questions swirl about the future of the beloved show” and that CBS News PR had yet to return their requests for comment about allegations from Pelley and fellow now-ex-60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega about political bias, which was amusing to hear considering liberal bias is about all the 58-year-old show has been good for.

To see the relevant transcripts from June 3, click here (for CBS) and here (for NBC).

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