Oh, the tears are flowing. Self-righteous much, Scott? Another media figure embarrasses himself on national TV. Pelley opened up about his firing—which came as a total shock after he blew up at management during a staff meeting.
“Shock, dismay, impossible to believe, searching desperately for an explanation, knowing that an explanation would be forthcoming and then not seeing that. No executive at CBS News, our editor in chief, Bari Weiss, coming over to explain, to talk with us, to sit with us. That’s a family at “60 Minutes.” My colleagues and I have worked together 10, 20, 30 years. We travel together. We dine together. We go into literal combat together. My former boss and former producer Bill Owens saved my life in a firefight in Iraq. So, these bonds are pretty tight, and when somebody wipes out, murders, a large number of your family members, people are desperate for some explanation, and as you and I sit here today, there still has been none.”
The final minute...
William Engelhardt • June 7, 2026
New York Times: President Trump reacted to your being fired.
Pelley: Did he?
New York Times: He went on a podcast and called you a stiff.
Pelley: I’m surprised that the president of the United States would bother to notice, but please tell me. I’m not aware of this.
New York Times: He said you were part of this gang of “stupid, crooked people that don’t care about your country.”
Pelley: Stupid? I can take that. Stiff? Yeah, probably. Don’t care about the country? I’ve never worn the uniform. But I’ve been in combat for this country, in Afghanistan and Iraq, Kuwait. I’ve been shot at, spent nights in foxholes filling up with water in the desert. I’m not aware that the president of the United States has ever done any of those things for his country. Please correct me if I’m wrong. You become a journalist because you love the First Amendment. You become a journalist because you love the country. And while all the other descriptions that the president used about me might be applicable, not that one. [Tears up] There is no democracy without journalism. It can’t be done. That is why I am a journalist.