Screenshot from the Collision Conference 2022.
Former executive producer of the program «60 Minutes» Bill Owens praised the veteran correspondent Scott Pelley after he interrupted a meeting with the new executive producer to launch an angry tirade about changes to the program.
On Monday, while accepting the New York Press Club's Gabe Pressman Truth to Power Award, Owens praised Pelley for his standup and told the audience that the correspondent "stood up just like I did a year ago, and I couldn't be prouder of him," Deadline reports.
He added: «And I know that all the staff of the program «60 Minutes» "They are very proud of him.".
These statements came just hours after news broke of a tense conflict between Pelley and the program's new executive producer. «60 Minutes» Nick Bilton .
New details emerged a day later, on Monday, when recordings of the meeting were leaked to several news outlets, showing that the outburst occurred when Bilton tried to reassure the team that the CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss «"loves the program"« 60 minutes »».
«"She's ruining the program. «60 Minutes» . "She doesn't like this place. She was brought in to destroy it, and that's exactly what she's doing," Pelley said, according to multiple sources. "She's not qualified for this job; you're already poorly qualified for this job. The changes she made to...» Evening News», were catastrophic, so why should we expect things to get better?»
Owens left the program «60 Minutes» in April 2025, when CBS's parent company, Paramount Global, was seeking approval for a merger with Skydance.
In his farewell note, Owens expressed concern that he could no longer guarantee editorial independence.
In his speech on Monday, Owens criticized the network's management and defended employees who were recently fired.
«"They were fired by people who don't even know what we do, who basically don't care," Owens said of the list of laid-off employees, which included an executive producer. Tanya Simon and a correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi .
He also criticized Bilton, a former technology news commentator who was named executive producer of the program last week despite having no TV news experience, Deadline reports.
Citing broader changes within the network, Owens argued that CBS news content must remain journalistically independent, a veiled dig at Weiss, a former columnist.
«"It's a shame because CBS News and 60 Minutes »These are institutions, not places where partisans and ideologists should work,” he said.
The article "Former '60 Minutes' producer Bill Owens lavishes praise on Scott Pelley after acrimonious spat with network executives: 'I'm very proud of him'" first appeared on Mediaite.