Scott Pelley says CBS leadership asked to make protesters ‘look more violent’ in a story he refused to change before his ’60 Minutes’ firing

Scott Pelley is speaking out after leaving 60 Minutes, and he has been open about what he describes as a push for political bias inside the network. In his first interview since being fired, Pelley said CBS News leadership tried to influence his reporting, specifically by asking him to show protesters in a more negative way.

Pelley sat down with New York Times podcaster Lulu Garcia-Navarro to talk about the events surrounding his exit. He pointed to a story from February about an ICE protest in Minneapolis and the death of Renee Good. According to Pelley, the segment already gave a full picture of what happened, including footage of protesters acting aggressively.

However, Pelley said that CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss sent a note to the show’s then-executive producer, Tanya Simon, suggesting edits that Pelley felt were problematic. He told the Times the email included requests he was uncomfortable with.

Pelley points to a dispute over footage from the Minneapolis ICE protest

Pelley told the Times, “Two of the things in the email include, can we make the protesters look more violent? Now, I’m paraphrasing. I don’t have the quote, but that’s what was communicated to me. And the other thing, Renee Good’s car. You need to describe her as driving toward the officer.”

According to Pelley, the situation involved a major gap between the official account and the video evidence. While the administration said Good was trying to hit an officer with her vehicle, Pelley noted that the footage clearly showed her wheels turned away from the officer. He has also said that CBS management told him to add falsehoods and bias to his reporting.

Pelley said that he and his team watched the footage several times and decided not to make the requested changes. He felt that the push to match the story with the president’s version of events was a level of political influence he had not seen in his 37 years at the network.

A CBS News spokesperson defended the editorial process, saying the requests were part of a normal back-and-forth between leadership and the production team. The network said the suggestions were meant to make the piece as accurate and fair as possible, adding that not every suggestion from leadership has to appear in the final broadcast. 

The network has previously faced scrutiny over its political coverage, including Jill Biden’s defense of Hunter Biden’s pardon in a CBS interview. Pelley’s exit followed a tense staff meeting on Monday where he confronted the show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton. 

During that meeting, Pelley criticized leadership for removing other staff members without explanation and questioned the qualifications of those now running the show. He told the Times he felt he needed to stand up for his colleagues.

“We have people who’ve been installed in these jobs who through no fault of their own have no experience in television. They don’t know what they’re doing,” Pelley said. “And there’s a subtle political bias that I’ve never seen at 60 Minutes before, or at CBS News before. So that is my hope: a return to sanity. We can save this. It’s possible to land this plane. But right now, CBS News is on fire.”

After the confrontation, Bilton told Pelley he was being fired. In the termination letter, Bilton described the incident as a “performative display of hostility” that showed a lack of interest in working together on the future of the program.

Pelley said he was stunned by the decision and did not expect the meeting to end his time at the network. Despite the fallout, Pelley expressed support for the remaining correspondents, noting that they had previously talked about the importance of upholding the program’s principles.