Scott Pelley confirmed late Tuesday that he had been fired from CBS News and “60 Minutes” after a 37-year run with the network.
In a lengthy statement obtained by Dylan Byers with Puck News, Pelley accused new management of abandoning the values of “60 Minutes” and claimed the network was changing course to gain favor with the Trump administration.
The 68-year-old said he was leaving because “the collapse of values at the top has become untenable” and because the leadership of “60 Minutes” was “no longer recognizable.”
New statement from Scott Pelley:
There has never been anything in America like 60 Minutes.
The Sunday tradition is the most successful program of any kind in history. For more than a decade, its innovative growth on every major online platform has extended its reach to…
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) June 3, 2026
Pelley also alleged that management directed him to include “falsehoods and bias” in a politically sensitive story and pushed him to use information he considered unverified.
“Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best 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 stood for professionalism against chaos,” he wrote.
Do you think CBS News will be able to bring back viewers it lost in recent years?
“For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done,” Pelley continued.
“I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion — a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again — a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.”
The former “Evening News” anchor did not comment on the vast falsehoods CBS has pushed on Americans in recent years.
Such falsehoods include lies from CBS about Hunter Biden’s laptop and immigration.
“60 Minutes” is the most prestigious TV news program in America. But a new review of the last 20 years of its reporting reveals serious inaccuracies and partisan bias on immigration, transgenderism, climate change, Covid, Russiagate, the Hunter Biden laptop, and more. pic.twitter.com/7YgGK3Lbjw
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 2, 2026
According to CBS leadership, Pelley was terminated after executives concluded he was unwilling to work with new management as the company sought to restore objectivity and public trust following years of controversy surrounding the program’s reporting.
In a termination letter to Pelley from “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton, the newly-hired showrunner expressed frustration that Pelley was unwilling to work with him as CBS tries to swing itself back to the middle after years of pandering only to the far left.
#BREAK: CBS NEWS has terminated Scott Pelley’s contract. pic.twitter.com/vbXyX8PBBv
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) June 3, 2026
“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear. And I have heard you,” Bilton wrote to Pelley. “I therefore write on behalf of CBS News, Inc. (CBS) to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately.”
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