FCC Chair Carr says Scott Pelley 'completely out of touch' for not anticipating '60 Minutes' firing [View all]
Source: The Hill
06/08/26 12:18 PM ET
Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, slammed former CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley on Sunday for saying he did not expect his longtime employer to fire him. “One of the reasons why trust in media is so low is because many legacy journalists are completely out of touch,” Carr wrote on social platform X, referring to Pelley telling The New York Times that he did not anticipate getting fired. “You could not get away with that behavior at any run of the mill job,” he added. “It is revealing to see how blind some are to that.”
CBS News last Wednesday fired Pelley, who had been with the company since 1989 and most recently worked as a correspondent for “60 Minutes.” His ouster came after he criticized CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss and Nick Bilton, the new “60 Minutes” executive producer, as unqualified during a staff meeting last Monday.
After he left CBS News, Pelley spoke to Lulu Garcia-Navarro of the Times about the lead-up to his firing and the future of “60 Minutes.” While he acknowledged that the staff meeting with Bilton was “contentious,” Pelley said that he did not enter a subsequent meeting with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski anticipating a firing.
“Oh gosh, furthest thing from my mind. It hadn’t occurred to me,” he said. Pelley said that once he entered the room, Cibrowski said his remarks to Bilton were a “firing offense” and accused the veteran reporter of “physically abusing” the executive producer. “This is a lie,” Pelley remarked. “I didn’t come within 10 feet of Nick Bilton. In my life, I have never put my hands on anyone in anger. And when he [Cibrowski] was caught in that lie, he said, ‘Well, OK, I take that back.’ And I said, ‘Great.’”
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5914770-brendan-carr-scott-pelley-60-minutes/
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