Bari Weiss Speaks on Scott Pelleys 60 Minutes Firing: Thats the Path That He Chose

Bari Weiss, the CBS News editor in chief, told her newsroom on Wednesday morning that the network fired the “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley because a “foundation” of trust had been broken after he assailed CBS leadership.“I’m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect; we cannot do our work without it,” Ms.Weiss said on a 9 a.m.

editorial call, according to a recording that was obtained by The New York Times.“That foundation was broken on Monday,” she continued, referring to the explosive “60 Minutes” staff meeting where Mr.Pelley said that Ms.

Weiss was “murdering ‘60 Minutes’” and asserted that Nick Bilton, the tech journalist hired to run the show, would “never be welcome.”“Despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways,” Ms.Weiss said.

“We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he chose.”These were Ms.Weiss’s first remarks to her staff about the decision to fire Mr.

Pelley, who was informed of his dismissal on Tuesday evening.CBS News has not issued an official statement about the firing.Mr.

Pelley, in a statement on Wednesday, disputed Ms.Weiss’s account of their interaction.

“There was no effort of any kind to ‘find a way back,’” he said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....