And now there are three.
CBS News has fired “60 Minutes” veteran Scott Pelley. That’s because journalists and executives felt unable to find a way to work together after Monday’s heated public spat with former tech journalist Nick Bilton, whom Perry and editor-in-chief Bari Weiss appointed last week. Perry is the fourth “60 Minutes” reporter to leave the venerable news magazine since February, leaving the trio of Leslie Stahl, Bill Whitaker and John Wertheim alone in charge as the show prepares for its 59th season in the fall.
“Your antipathy towards the future of the show has been made clear to me,” Bilton said in a letter sent to Perry on Tuesday night and seen by Variety. “I have heard your story. Therefore, I am writing on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated effective immediately.”
Perry could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Perry lambasted both Mr. Bilton and Mr. Weiss at Monday’s staff meeting, questioning their qualifications to manage a program like “60 Minutes,” one of America’s most respected and most-watched news programs, and accusing Mr. Weiss of “murdering 60 Minutes.”
Weiss said last week that he wants the show to “reach new heights through deep and revelatory journalism that breaks news, exposes wrongdoing, broadens public understanding and holds every institution and every center of power accountable.” But it is becoming increasingly unclear who will be left to carry out the task.
CBS News last week removed a significant portion of the show’s senior managers, including former executive producer Tanya Simon. Editor-in-chief Dragan Mihajlović. and correspondents Sharin Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Anderson Cooper, who has been a part of the show for nearly 20 years, announced his departure in February.
In a memo to staff issued Tuesday night, Bilton sought to reassure staff. “I know how much Scott meant to you, and I don’t say that lightly. I tried many times over the weekend to have a direct conversation with him, and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. That was not the path Scott would have chosen.”
“We offer our unwavering support to each of you, your journalism, and our future together,” Bilton said.
For many, Perry was the center of the news magazine in recent years. He submitted breaking political news as well as an emotional profile of former Sen. Ben Sasse and a feature on the caves of Vietnam’s underworld. In 2021, Perry published an in-depth three-part feature about the firefighters who tried to rescue people from the burning World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, using excerpts from tapes of conversations released by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
In fact, Perry has won half of the major awards “60 Minutes” has won during its tenure since 2004.
“We wouldn’t want 60 Minutes on the air without Scott. He mastered the art of storytelling on 60 Minutes and all the greats before him,” Jeff Fager, second executive producer of 60 Minutes and former chairman of CBS News, said in a text message. “He is a great talent and his departure is a huge blow to the program.”
Perry is also known to viewers in other capacities. Mr. Perry was the anchor of “CBS Evening News” from 2011 to 2017. He joined CBS News in 1989 and began his journalism career as a copyboy at the Lubbock Avalanche Journal in Texas, near his hometown of San Antonio.
“Journalism has nothing to do with popularity. If we all do our jobs right, it probably won’t be very popular with the majority of viewers. I hope that changes day by day and that eventually everyone listens to what they like,” Perry told Variety in 2017.
It remains to be seen whether Bilton can make longtime “60 Minutes” viewers forget about Perry this fall.
