60 Minutes viewership rebounded after Bari Weiss began her tenure at CBS, despite Scott Pelley’s claim that the Free Press co-founder is “killing” the program, television viewership data show.CBS News fired Pelley on Tuesday after the former 60 Minutes correspondent questioned the qualifications of newly hired executive producer Nick Bilton and the intentions of CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.“You hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intention with remarkable incivility and contempt,” Bilton wrote in a termination letter to Pelley.
Pelley’s firing is the latest bombshell in Weiss’s contentious CBS overhaul. The Thursday before Pelley’s outburst, Weiss fired correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, as well as executive producer Tanya Simon.
“[Bari Weiss] is murdering 60 Minutes,” Pelley interrupted Bilton, according to the New York Times. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”
But what, exactly, is Weiss murdering at CBS?
In his statement responding to Bilton’s publicized letter, Pelley pointed to the program’s recent ratings gains.
