Bill Owens, the former executive producer for “60 Minutes,” praised Scott Pelley for speaking out against CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, noting the 68-year-old journalist “can smell a fraud from a mile away.”
Owens, who notably exited “60 Minutes” in April 2025 over concerns he was unable to maintain the program’s editorial independence, addressed Pelley’s confrontation with new executive producer Nick Bilton while accepting the Gabe Pressman Truth to Power Award at the New York Press Club’s annual dinner on Monday.
Specifically, Owens first slammed Weiss as “an opinion writer best known for being an ideologue,” per Status. He then reportedly called out the handling of “Black Thursday,” which saw the departures of — among others — correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi.
“They were fired by people who don’t even know what we do and don’t actually care,” he noted.
“Scott can smell a fraud from a mile away. He stood up the way I did a year ago and I couldn’t be prouder of him,” Owens said of his former colleague’s decision to speak out. “And I know all of the people at ’60 Minutes’ couldn’t be more proud of him. So, in a way, I’ll accept this award today on behalf of my friend Scott and all the people at ’60 Minutes.’“
As Owens went on, he stated that “60 Minutes” and CBS News were both “institutions, not places where partisans and ideologues should be employed.”
“Look, I’m not saying ’60 Minutes’ is perfect. I’m certainly not. We’ve made mistakes. We’ve always owned up to them,” he added. “But I can tell you there’s a rigor in how ’60 Minutes’ approaches every story. That isn’t what this crew is looking to do.”
A representative for CBS News did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Owens’ commentary came hours after correspondent Pelley called out CBS News editor-in-chief Weiss in a heated meeting Monday, accusing her of “murdering” the long-running news program.
According to leaked audio, things quickly came to a head between Pelley and Bilton in a group meeting that morning, where Pelley said of Weiss, who appointed Bilton, “She’s murdering ’60 Minutes.’ She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.” Pelley also reportedly called out Bilton, a former tech journalist and filmmaker with no previous broadcast TV experience, for his “slender qualifications for this job.”
A person close to CBS News leadership called Pelley’s outburst “disappointing,” noting that Weiss and Bilton had made several attempts in the last week to reach out to the correspondent and communicate that he’s valued at “60 Minutes.” Pelley apparently did not return their call.
