Scott Pelley’s brazen attack on the new boss of ’60 Minutes’ has divided staffers at CBS News, with some insiders branding his behavior as “bullying” and “grandstanding” — and yet another reckoning it was “a set up,” The Post has learned.
Pelley laced into Nick Bilton, the new executive producer of “60 Minutes” on Monday during a meet-and-greet with staffers, calling out the boss’ lack of TV experience, challenging his vision and telling him he will “never be welcomed here.”
“What did he accomplish?” one CBS source said of Pelley’s explosive attack. “He embarrassed the company and the leadership.”
Network sources said Bilton and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss had tried to speak privately ahead of the meeting with Pelley — who was fuming about the network’s firing of “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, executive producer Tanya Simon and other top producers last week.
“This was a set up. This was Scott going off for show,” the insider opined. “This was just a show. He wants to stand up for journalism and maybe get fired but what does it change?”
A second source agreed that Pelley’s tactics were “problematic,” noting that the correspondent should have met with Weiss or Bilton to at least to hear them out.
“That grandstanding thing is insane. It’s third-grade, playground bullying stuff,” the source said. “This is not the way you conduct yourself.”
“You’re not taking down a dictator or someone who has committed war crimes,” the source added. “You’re not interviewing Saddam Hussein. It was a little bit overkill.”
It remains unclear how CBS intends to react to Pelley’s tirade. As previously reported by The Post, Pelley has another year left on his contract and makes around $5 million a year.
Sources speculated that the network is likely loathe to pay Pelley $5 million to quit. Ultimately, the decision rests with David Ellison, the CEO of CBS owner Paramount Skydance.
A rep for the company declined to comment.
“Most people are perplexed in the building. There are people here who think ’60 Minutes’ is arrogant,” the source said.
CBS News journalists sometimes feel like second-class citizens, according to the source, who noted that the show ignores pitches from non-“60 Minutes’ producers and dislikes non-“60 Minutes” journalists appearing on their show.
“Their arrogance is beyond reproach,” the source said. “But at the same time, CBS people understand that they’ll be affected by Bari Weiss too, and it’s like, who do you hate more, ’60 Minutes’ or Bari Weiss and her people?”
Weiss has made a slew of bold moves in her eight-month tenure, including shaking up “CBS Evening News” and installing former “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil as anchor. She also shuttered the century-old CBS News Radio and brought in Bilton, a former New York Times tech columnist with a handful of documentary producing credits, to lead “60 Minutes.”
Pelley claimed in his rant that Weiss was “murdering ’60 Minutes,’” and that she “was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that,” while adding that “she has no qualifications for her job.”
Pelley added that Bilton has “slender” qualifications for the new job, and demanded to know why his colleagues had been fired. In a heated-back-and forth, Bilton said he had nothing to do with the cuts, and later told Pelley he wasn’t going to be “intimidated” before abruptly ending the meeting.
As previously reported, the room “erupted” in applause after Bilton left — a bad sign, according to a former CBS News exec, who said it meant that the staffers in the room are “afraid” to speak their minds in front of leadership.
The person said it should be essential for journalists to be able to have a debate and be heard without fear of retribution.
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