Scott Pelley fired by CBS after ‘60 Minutes’ clash with management

(CNN) — CBS News fired veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, hours after a contentious meeting with management in response to his criticism of the newsmagazine’s new leadership.

“Despite yesterday’s misconduct, I had hoped that in sitting down with you today we could find a path forward together. You made clear that you are not interested in such a path,” newly appointed “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton wrote to Pelley on Tuesday evening.

“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” Bilton wrote. “And I have heard you.”

Therefore, he wrote, “your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately.”

On Monday, Pelley pointedly questioned and criticized Bilton in a staff-wide meeting. His scathing remarks immediately leaked to outside news outlets and ignited a crisis inside CBS.

Pelley charged editor in chief Bari Weiss with trying to “kill” the acclaimed newsmagazine and strongly objected to her hiring of Bilton, a former tech reporter with little TV news experience, to run the program.

The longtime correspondent had declined Weiss and Bilton’s previous attempts to meet with him privately to discuss last Thursday’s shake-up at “60 Minutes,” which included...