CBS News’ Bari Weiss addresses ‘unfortunate’ firing of Scott Pelley

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, speaking to network employees Wednesday about the firing of “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley, said newsroom leaders could not “find a way back” with the veteran journalist — a comment he flatly rejected in a statement of his own

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, speaking to network employees Wednesday about the firing of “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley, said newsroom leaders could not “find a way back” with the veteran journalist — a comment he flatly rejected in a statement of his own.

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The back-and-forth illustrated the turmoil engulfing “60 Minutes,” America’s top-rated and most prestigious newsmagazine. The upheaval started last Thursday with the ouster of key senior staff members and deepened Monday when Pelley, a 37-year veteran of CBS, laced into the newly installed “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton at a heated meeting.

“I hope I speak, I know I speak for myself, and I hope I speak for everyone here when I say that I’m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect. We cannot do our work without it,” Weiss told CBS News employees Wednesday. “That foundation was broken on Monday, and despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways.”