Former “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley offered a message of gratitude on Saturday to those who have supported him since he was fired from the program last week.
“To all of you who have been so kind, you are the wind in my sails. So deeply grateful,” Pelley captioned a photo of himself steering a sailboat.
News of Pelley’s termination came Tuesday evening, hours after he met with network leadership following a Monday war of the words in which he accused CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the program.
“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” wrote “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton in a letter sent to Pelley. “And I have heard you. I therefore write on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately.”
Pelley spoke to the New York Times afterward. “I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” he said. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.”
He also described Weiss as “cold and callous and beneath the dignity of CBS News” and told the Times he was pressured by senior managers at the network to put political bias in his stories this season.
Weiss defended the decision to fire Pelley in a call to network staff Wednesday. “Before we get into it, I need to address what’s transpired in our newsroom over the past two days and what is making news,” she said in part. “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.”
She added, “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.”
