Lesley Stahl says 60 Minutes bloodbath was by far the worst experience Ive been involved in

Veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl says the recent upheaval at CBS News is “by far the worst experience” she has witnessed in a journalism career spanning over five decades.Stahl told Puck News that she remains furious over the recent purge that claimed executive producer Tanya Simon, senior executive producer Draggan Mihailovich, correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, veteran producer Guy Campanile and digital chief Matthew Polevoy, in addition to Pelley.“It’s just been obviously the hardest chapter of my career,” Stahl said.“This was by far the worst experience I’ve been involved in, or even witnessed.”The comments came days after she and the two remaining correspondents on last season’s roster — Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim — jointly announced that they would return for the show’s next season.Stahl, 84, said she still does not understand why several of her longtime colleagues were fired.“They fired everybody who was around Tanya,” she said.“We don’t know why.”“He doesn’t know why.

He has no idea why he was fired.None,” she added of Campanile.

“And I have no idea why he was fired.”Stahl seconded Pelley’s recent account of his June 2 meeting with management hours before he was axed, saying he demanded to know why key crew members had been fired days earlier.“That’s what he was agitated about,” Stahl said.“Tell us why they were fired.

That was his question.He never got an answer.“They felt he was insubordinate for asking that question.”Pelley’s abrupt dismissal followed a June 1 confrontation in which he blasted new executive producer Nick Bilton at a staff meeting — which Stahl herself missed while on assignment in Spain, The Post previously reported.A CBS spokesperson told Puck News that the company was legally barred from revealing why employees are fired, citing confidentiality concerns.Stahl recapped Simon’s dismissal, too, claiming the longtime executive producer we...