CBS News faced a fresh wave of turmoil on Monday after Scott Pelley, the “60 Minutes” correspondent, laced into the show’s newly hired executive producer during a staff meeting and accused Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief, of “murdering” the longstanding Sunday news program.
In an extraordinary exchange, Mr. Pelley, his newscaster’s baritone sometimes shaking in anger, told Nick Bilton, the new executive producer, that he had “slender” qualifications for his new job and questioned the network’s commitment to the future of the program, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The New York Times.
The 10 a.m. gathering, held at the program’s Midtown Manhattan headquarters, was intended as a formal introduction to Mr. Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker who was appointed last week as part of a major shake-up at “60 Minutes.” CBS fired Tanya Simon, the previous executive producer, and her deputy, along with Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, two of the show’s correspondents — an event that Mr. Pelley referred to as “Black Thursday.”
The meeting quickly turned tense — not a surprise after months of strain between veteran journalists at “60 Minutes” and Ms. Weiss, an opinion journalist who was a longtime critic of legacy media institutions before she became the head of one last year. She was appointed by David Ellison, a tech scion who took control of CBS’s parent company Paramount in a multibillion-dollar merger.
Mr. Bilton, who has never worked in traditional broadcast news, opened Monday’s meeting by trying to assuage the anxieties of staff members who believed he might fundamentally change the decades-old DNA of the country’s top-rated news program.
“For me, the journalism is the journalism,” Mr. Bilton said, according to the recording. “That is why I am here. That is why we are all here.” He added: “The rumors people are spreading, that I’m going to turn the show into 60 one-minute episodes, that it’s going to be like TikTok, that is not changing. The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now.”
He also warned that the broadcast television industry that incubated “60 Minutes” would soon be obsolete. “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting, OK?” Mr. Bilton said, saying the show had to adapt. “Bari loves this institution,” he added. “She loves ‘60 Minutes.’”
At that, Mr. Pelley interrupted.
“She is murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” the correspondent said. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”
Mr. Pelley added: “She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job. The changes that she’s made at the ‘Evening News’ have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?”
Mr. Bilton responded: “Well, I will show you. That’s what I have to say. That is my plan over the next two weeks. I’ll be meeting with everyone. I’m very excited to meet with everyone, yourself included.”
A representative for CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Ms. Weiss did not attend the gathering. A CBS executive at the meeting said that Ms. Weiss had been “prepared to come, and we asked her not to,” citing the staff’s ill feelings surrounding the firings.
Mr. Pelley pressed Mr. Bilton repeatedly on why CBS had fired Ms. Alfonsi and Ms. Vega. Mr. Bilton said those decisions predated his hiring. Mr. Pelley asked Mr. Bilton why he had accepted a position at a program “knowing that you will never be welcome here.”
“I have no problem taking a job in a place that I am not welcome in,” Mr. Bilton said. “I don’t think that will be the case.” He added: “You are not going to intimidate me in front of this group of people. I want that to be clear.”
Mr. Bilton said that he wanted to help “60 Minutes” avoid the fate of old-media stalwarts that had failed to adapt, citing Time magazine.
“I care so deeply about this institution,” Mr. Bilton said, to which Mr. Pelley interrupted: “Oh, please.”
At one point, Charles Forelle, a top deputy to Ms. Weiss, urged Mr. Pelley not to act “rude” toward Mr. Bilton.
“I’m not being rude,” Mr. Pelley responded. “You know what was rude? Black Thursday was rude.”
Ms. Weiss’s handling of “60 Minutes” has generated internal turmoil for months.
In December, she pulled a segment reported by Ms. Alfonsi, about the brutal treatment of migrants in a Salvadoran prison, saying that it needed more reporting. The segment was critical of the Trump administration, and Ms. Alfonsi said the decision was “political.” The piece ultimately aired with some additional comments from the Trump administration.
On Monday, Mr. Bilton moved to conclude the meeting after roughly 15 minutes. He encouraged the assembled staff members to partake in the food that had been laid out.
“I just want to thank everyone for graciously being so welcoming,” Mr. Bilton said. “I look forward to talking to you in a one-on-one setting as these meetings are scheduled. And enjoy the bagels.”
The “60 Minutes” staff applauded Mr. Pelley after Mr. Bilton departed.
