Nick Bilton — a 49-year-old tech journalist who was named the new boss of “60 Minutes” in a major reshuffle — abruptly ended a meeting with the storied news magazine’s staffers following a heated exchange with correspondent Scott Pelley, sources told The Post.
In a Monday morning meet-and-greet gone wrong, Pelley took aim at CBS News Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, claiming she was “murdering ’60 Minutes,’” and that she “was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that,” according to a source briefed on the meeting.
“She has no qualifications for her job,” Pelley said of Weiss, according to the source. “The changes that she’s made at the ‘Evening News’ have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?”
Bilton, in response, sought to quash rumors that he was going to “turn the show into 60 one-minute episodes, that it’s going to be like TikTok,” adding, “The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now.” He also warned, however, that “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting.”
“For me, the journalism is the journalism,” Bilton said, according to the source. “That is why I am here. That is why we are all here.”
Pelley demanded that Bilton and Weiss’ deputy Charles Forelle, who was also at the meeting, explain last week’s firings of the show’s top producers including Tanya Simon, as well as reporters Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
Pelley likewise laced into Bilton, telling the new executive producer he had “slender” qualifications for his new job. He added that Bilton “will never be welcome here” and asked him why he took the job under those circumstances, a source said.
“You are not going to intimidate me in front of this group of people,” Bilton shot back, according to a second source. “I want that to be clear.”
After 15 minutes of heated-back-and-forth, Bilton ended the meeting, saying, “Enjoy the bagels” as he got up and left the room, the source said.
After Bilton left, “The room erupted into applause and Nick definitely heard it,” the source added.
Network sources said Weiss and Bilton had reached out unsuccessfully to Pelley over the weekend to avoid such a catastrophe, adding that the correspondent is “valued” and that they respect his “passion” and “commitment” to the show.
A source close to the situation said Weiss was advised not to attend the meeting.
Neither Pelley nor CBS commented.
According to the Guardian, Forelle accused Pelley of being “rude,” and Pelley punched back by saying that the “60 Minutes” firings last week — which he called “Black Thursday” — were what was rude.
Bilton, a journalist with stints at the New York Times and Vanity Fair and a handful of producer credits on Netflix documentaries, replaced Simon on Friday.
Weiss said she picked Bilton — an entreprenerial journalist with no TV or podcast experience — for his “ambition” and “energy”.
Insiders said Simon bumped heads with Weiss. According to a source close to the situation, Simon “couldn’t control the staff” and was deemed a “bad leader” by Weiss as a result.
Along with Simon, Weiss ousted Simon’s No. 2, senior executive producer Draggan Mihailovich, as well as senior producer Matthew Polvoy, correspondent Vega and veteran producer Guy Campanile, who sources said questioned Weiss harshly about her strategy for the show when she started at the network.
Upon her exit, Vega accused CBS leadership of attempting to censor her work and “insert political bias” into “60 Minutes” stories.
A CBS News spokesperson told The Post in a statement: “We respect Ms. Vega and her contributions, but her claims are not based in reality.”
Weiss also bumped heads with Alfonsi over her report on El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.
Alfonsi publicly accused Weiss of trying to “sanitize accurate reporting” after the CECOT segment was pulled at the last minute. The report ultimately aired weeks later with additional comments from the Trump administration attached.
The turmoil inside CBS News has fueled fears among staffers that editorial independence at “60 Minutes” is being eroded under Weiss, the former New York Times opinion editor and founder of the Free Press who was installed by Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison following the merger.
