NEED TO KNOW
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Experienced program correspondent «60 Minutes» Scott Pelley has accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of deliberately misleading editorial staff about the details of his firing.
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Pelley was fired by the network on Tuesday, June 2, after a conflict with the new executive producer of the program "« 60 minutes »"Nick Bilton during a heated meeting with staff the day before.
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In a statement Wednesday, June 3, Pelley said CBS executives never offered him any options for moving forward during a meeting with him Tuesday, contradicting Weiss's account of the meeting.
Scott Pelley, veteran correspondent for the program «60 minutes, The man fired by CBS after criticizing the network's management at a heated staff meeting this week is accusing CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of deliberately misleading employees about the details of his firing.
Pelley, who joined CBS in 1989, was sharply critical of Weiss and Nick Bilton, the program's newly appointed executive producer, during a meeting Monday, June 1. «60 Minutes» .
Pelley accused Weiss, who was not present at the meeting, of "killing" the long-running Sunday news magazine and said Bilton, a tech journalist who had never worked in broadcasting, "has scant qualifications for the job.".
Bilton notified Pelley of his resignation on Tuesday, June 2, following a meeting with Pelley and network executives that same day. In his resignation letter, he wrote that Pelley had decided to "ambush him" with a "massive display of hostility" and had shown "antipathy" toward the program's future. «60 Minutes» .
«"Yesterday, you disrupted my first staff meeting to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with astonishing rudeness and contempt," Bilton wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by PEOPLE.
Weiss, who took over CBS News last year after its parent company, Paramount Skydance, acquired her media startup. The Free Press , commented on Pelley's firing during an internal staff meeting Wednesday morning, multiple sources said.
«"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 built on trust and mutual respect. Without that, we can't do our jobs," Weiss, 42, said at the meeting, according to reports. "That foundation was shattered on Monday, and despite our efforts to reach out to Scott Pelley and find a way to restore our relationship, unfortunately, we were unable to do so, so we had to part ways.".
«"We didn't want this to happen," Weiss said, "but that's the path he chose.".
In a statement released later Wednesday, Pelley said he was "disappointed" by Weiss's comments.
Scott Pelley, a longtime correspondent for "60 Minutes." Photo: Michelle Crowe/CBS News.
«"Bari Weiss knows that what she said is not true," the statement, first reported by the newspaper, said. The New York Times . "At the meeting on Tuesday where I was effectively fired, there was no attempt to 'find a way back,' as Weiss said at the editorial meeting.".
«"No one at Tuesday's meeting ever suggested that either side could take steps that would lead to a settlement," he said.
Pelley, 68, said Weiss and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski were "openly hostile" "from the start" and repeatedly refused to answer his questions about Weiss's decision last week to fire top program staffers. «60 Minutes» , including former executive producer Tanya Simon and two on-air correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
«"Throughout the meeting, CBS executives were abrupt, dismissive, and uninterested in dialogue," Pelley said Wednesday.
«"I am saddened that CBS News employees were misled during a conference call Wednesday morning," he added. "These executives will not earn their employees' trust with lies. It goes against everything we stand for and demonstrates contempt for the work of journalists.".
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Including Pelley, three CBS News correspondents have been fired since Weiss took over last fall. «60 Minutes» . CNN anchor Anderson Cooper announced in February that he would voluntarily leave the program after nearly 20 years, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.
In the program team «60 Minutes» Only three staff writers remain: Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and L. Jon Wertheim.
Read the original article on People.