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60 minutes According to CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and company, there were a lot of changes throughout the summer. Began to evaluate the direction of the show. This ultimately led to the firing of several notable series alumni. This news came out on May 28 and since then it has been called “Black Thursday”. Sources have since stopped making claims about what happened immediately after the expulsion. However, now a notable series of alumni are reflecting on how the post-firing meeting went.
At the time of that previously mentioned meeting, Scott Pelley had not yet been fired by CBS. At the time, he was apparently looking for answers as to why many of his coworkers were relieved of their duties. Pelley recently revealed that a staff meeting was held shortly after the staff changes were made, and the remaining employees were hoping to get some answers. However, as Pelé explained, the meeting ended very differently than he and others expected:
After everyone was fired, he called us into a staff meeting – which we thought was a staff meeting with CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss – so he could explain why he fired all these people and how we were going to move forward and all that. Well, we come to the staff meeting and there’s no Bari Weiss. So, now, the room is quite unhappy about this.
60 minutes‘The shooting also affected reporters Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, as well as EP Tanya Simon. Executive editor Dragan Mihailovich was let go that Thursday as well. While sitting at the Press Forward Summit (which was shared). youtube), Pelé recalled a different legend coming in to talk with the staff and, apparently, it didn’t go well:
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Just then a new gentleman arrives, his name is [executive producer] Nick Bilton. He comes to the front of the room and, without looking at anyone, begins to read a statement to the staff from his phone. Well, that wouldn’t be good. Everyone in the room is wondering, ‘Where’s Bari Weiss?’ How did this happen? Where have all our managers gone?
Scott Pelley will depart from the company immediately after this meeting. Eventually, the longtime anchor had a one-on-one meeting with Bilton and during the conversation, he reportedly said Weiss was accused of “killing” the show. News of Pelé’s firing broke that same week. CBS News later shared an internal memo, in which Weiss said the goal of the Pelé meeting was to find some common ground moving forward. However, Pelé later claimed that no such olive branch was extended during that conversation.
Following his dismissal, Pelley has spoken out against Weiss, as has David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance (now Skydance). When it comes to Weisz, Pelley specifically takes issue with his lack of prior experience in the broadcast journalism industry. The newsman believes CBS currently requires “adult supervision”. At the same time, other former alumni of the series have made allegations of “journalistic interference” in Weiss’s oversight.
Weiss has faced blowback for allegedly allowing editorial bias and last December, eyebrows were raised over his last-minute decision to drop a story about an El Salvador migrant prison. She has since denied the claims of bias and, while she has received continued backlash, some CBS employees have defended her. evening News Anchor Tony Dokoupil denied seeing bias and spoke positively about Weiss’s approach to the company. New 60 minutes Contributor Trevor Phillips – who is also CBS’s recently hired senior global affairs correspondent – also defended Weiss’s way of running the news outlet.
As 60 minutes‘ As the 59th season continues to air amid a 2026 TV schedule, the show has reportedly experienced both gains and losses in terms of ratings. In the wake of the drama Scott Pelley has become a journalist-in-residence at Columbia Journalism School. During the summit, when asked if he had seen the show, Pelé simply said, “No.”