The latest stop on Scott Pelley’s victimhood tour found him touting time spent in “literal combat” while likening his job loss to a particularly heinous personal tragedy.
(Video Credit: The New York Times)
Last week, “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton’s termination notice to Pelley was published, detailing that the contract of the longtime journalist had been terminated “with cause.” After an initial statement accused leadership at CBS News of “incompetence and unprofessionalism,” including editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, an interview with the New York Times found Pelley insisting, “it’s like your spouse being murdered.”
“I don’t care about me. It’s not about me. 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,” he went on in his interview with the Times’ Lulu Navarro. “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.”
The take came specifically after relaying the termination of executive producer Tanya Simon. “No one saw the Black Thursday massacre coming,” he said of her firing along with other senior staff. “The night before, Tanya [Simon] 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.”
“My colleagues and I have worked together 10, 20, 30 years. We travel together. We dine together. We go into literal combat together,” Pelley told Navarro, talking about how former producer Bill Owens “saved my life in a firefight in Iraq. “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.”
The journalist also argued that, though he’s “never worn the uniform,” he’s “been in combat for this country, in Afghanistan and Iraq, Kuwait. I’ve been shot at, spent nights in foxholes filling up with water in the desert.”
Those remarks came amid a reaction to President Donald Trump describing Pelley as part of a gang of “stupid, crooked people” that don’t care about the country, in which he said, “I’m not aware that the president of the United States has ever done any of those things for his country.”
“There is no democracy without journalism,” asserted the fired broadcaster, who expressed being offended at a claim that he doesn’t care about the country. “It can’t be done. That is why I am a journalist.”
Contrasting the sob story from Pelley that included his continued pushback on the notion “60 Minutes” was biased during his tenure, Weiss issued her own statement on the termination that read in part, “I’m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect. We cannot do our work without it. That foundation was broken on Monday, and 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. We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he chose.”
Bari Weiss breaks silence to CBS staff after Scott Pelley ouster https://t.co/RUpHNVzWhP
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) June 3, 2026
Meanwhile, as reactions to the interview poured in, dubbing Pelley “insufferable,” he insisted that coverage would focus on portions of the interview “where I’m crying and say I’m a lunatic” after earlier saying of his own surprise at being fired, “Some reporter I turned out to be. I just didn’t connect the dots.”
I really had no idea what an insufferable narcissistic prick this guy is, but I should have guessed
— FauciEatsBoogers (@NoPanic78) June 7, 2026
lol.. this guys self-importance is next level insanity 😂😂 i knew he was insufferable but Good Lord had no idea he was such a massive narcissist 😳
— minneauxTx (@MinneauxTex) June 7, 2026
An “investigative journalist” who doesn’t realize that most of the country sees him as biased
Pretty much confirms his investigative incompetence
— Disavowed (@DisavowedVet) June 7, 2026
Scott Pelley is a legend in his own mind. He has an ego the size of Alaska, maybe bigger.
— Redtruckgal (@Redtruckga31638) June 8, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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