Scott Pelley Accuses CBS News of Pushing ‘Political Bias’ After Shocking ’60 Minutes’ Firing

CBS is in the middle of one of its most turbulent weeks in years.

As tensions at CBS continue to make headlines, Scott Pelley is breaking his silence with a scathing statement following his sudden firing from 60 Minutes.

The veteran journalist — who was fired from CBS News on Tuesday, June 2, after clashing with the network’s new leadership — issued a fiery public statement accusing executives of silencing employees and pressuring him to insert “falsehoods and bias” into his work.

In a lengthy statement shared on social media on Wednesday, June 3, Pelley said he believes the network’s new owner is dismantling the show “to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.”

“’60’ has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories,” he wrote.

Pelley went on to slam the recent firings. Taking a direct aim at CBS’s new bosses, he added, “Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.”

Pelley then made his most explosive accusation: “For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them.”

He also revealed that politicians were being allowed to handpick the correspondents who interviewed them, a practice he called wildly out of step with the show’s standards.

Pelley, who joined 60 Minutes in 2004, said he leaves CBS after 37 years with “a heart brimming with gratitude” for his colleagues.

He was officially let go after a tense Monday meeting where he reportedly told executives that newly appointed editor-in-chief Bari Weiss was “murdering” the show, as reported by The Guardian on June 1.

“She does not love this place,” Pelley said of Weiss. “She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”