Scott Pelley Says CBS News Management Directed Coverage Toward Trump
The former '60 Minutes' anchor described corporate pressure on the newsroom during a panel discussion five months after his exit.
By Rafael Collins ·
Scott Pelley told an audience on Wednesday that CBS News leadership instructed journalists to frame their reporting around President Donald Trump's perspective. "In my experience, and having talked to my colleagues as well, there was an imperative to move our coverage in the direction of the president. To put a thumb on the scale, if you will, in terms of the president's viewpoint," he said at an event hosted by Speak Up For Justice.
Pelley spoke roughly five months after CBS ended his long-running role at "60 Minutes." He characterized the pressure as unlike anything he encountered across his career, describing directives from the corporate side of the business on political stories. "It was anathema to all of us who had worked at '60 Minutes' for so many years, and we fought the battle against it. We pushed back against it and that led to last year, the complete gutting of '60 Minutes,'" he said.
He did not name any executives in his remarks. The dispute intensified in June, when Pelley confronted CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss during a staff meeting. "She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that," he said at the time. Weiss, a former opinion columnist and founder of The Free Press, took over the news division after Paramount's acquisition by Skydance in 2025.
The staff roster changed during Weiss's tenure. Correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi departed after months of friction with Weiss and executive producer Nick Bilton, who was appointed by Weiss. Producers Tanya Simon and Draggan Mihailovich also left over editorial disagreements. Anderson Cooper left the program in May, citing family time, and told viewers on his last broadcast that he considered the program's independence and the trust it holds with audiences essential to its success.
The panel on Wednesday drew no response from CBS News about Pelley's account. He did not identify any specific directives, stories or dates when he said management pushed a political line.
Weiss continues to lead CBS News, and "60 Minutes" remains on the air.
