Former “60 Minutes” anchor Scott Pelley did not expect to be fired last week.
“No one saw the Black Thursday massacre coming,” Pelley said in a New York Times interview.
Pelley, 68, said he didn’t see it coming even though he blew up at network executives earlier.
“Some reporter I turned out to be. I just didn’t connect the dots,” Pelley said.
Pelley said in the interview
that perhaps he shouldn’t have said new boss Bari Weiss “murdered” the show. He then likened the mass terminations to the “murders” of family members.
“The night before, Tanya and I were at the Emmy Awards, and we won two Emmys. Within hours, all of those people have been wiped out, and one-third of our correspondents have been fired,” Pelley said.
“My colleagues and I have worked together 10, 20, 30 years. We travel together. We dine together. We go into literal combat together,” he continued.
“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,” Pelley added. “It’s like your spouse being murdered.”
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He said he feels for others who have lost their jobs more than the loss of his.
Pelley added, “I am not emotional about this because I have lost this job. I’ve done it for a long time. I’ve had the greatest experiences. But the people I leave behind, treated in this way? That breaks my heart, and it’s going to take me a long time to get over it.”
Pelley was mocked for saying he’d gone “into literal combat” with his CBS colleagues.
People referred to him on X as a “low-rent Brian Williams.”
Another joked, “Old Blood ‘n Guts Pelley we used to call him in the trenches.”
New “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton fired Pelley “for cause.” He cited insubordination. Weiss made it clear during a following staff meeting that she supported the move.
