Paramount loses 3% as CBS News fires Pelley in 60 Minutes meltdown

Scott Pelley's firing after 37 years at CBS News marks the latest escalation in a leadership crisis that threatens to disrupt Paramount Global's pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

CBS News fired longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, deepening a crisis at the network's flagship program that has already cost the show three on-air correspondents in a single week. Paramount Global shares fell 3.06% as investors weighed the implications of the turmoil.

"She's murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that," Pelley said of CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss during a heated staff meeting on Monday, according to a recording reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

The firing came after Pelley, 68, confronted newly appointed executive producer Nick Bilton during an all-hands meeting, questioning his qualifications and the dismissals of correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Pelley had spent 37 years at CBS, joining the network in 1989 and serving as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" from 2011 to 2017. The show's most recent season posted a 9% increase in viewership, according to Nielsen data.

The turmoil at CBS News comes as Paramount works to close its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that could be completed as soon as this summer. The leadership crisis at "60 Minutes" — the most-watched news program in America — threatens to complicate regulatory and public perception of the combined entity.

Weiss, who joined CBS News in October after Paramount acquired her news platform the Free Press for $150 million, has moved swiftly to reshape the network's talent and operations. She replaced "60 Minutes" executive producer Tanya Simon with Bilton, an author and documentary producer with limited television news experience, and has taken a more active role in editorial decisions. David Ellison, CEO of Paramount, spoke with Weiss about how she would approach the conversation with Pelley before the firing, people familiar with the matter said.

The changes have drawn sharp criticism from veteran staff. In December, Weiss pulled a planned "60 Minutes" segment on an El Salvador prison where the Trump administration sent Venezuelan migrants, a decision correspondent Alfonsi called political. The segment eventually aired in January with additional context.

Three Correspondents Gone in a Week

"60 Minutes" has lost half its on-air roster in recent months. Anderson Cooper announced his departure in February after two decades with the show. Alfonsi and Vega were fired last week. With Pelley's exit, only three full-time correspondents remain: Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim. The show, which just wrapped its 58th season, is expected to draw correspondents from across the network for the upcoming 59th season this fall.

Merger Implications

The crisis at CBS News adds a layer of uncertainty to Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which would combine two of the largest media companies in the U.S. The deal requires regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission and antitrust review. The last major media merger of this scale — Discovery's acquisition of WarnerMedia in 2022 — took more than a year to close amid regulatory scrutiny.

Pelley, in a statement after his firing, accused management of injecting "falsehoods and bias" into stories and said politicians had been invited to choose correspondents for interviews. "The collapse of values at the top has become untenable," he said. Weiss, addressing staff on an editorial call Wednesday, said she is "only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect."

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