The Franchise Strikes Back

Scott Pelley wasn't interested in the free bagels.

This Monday afternoon has crackled with reports of what happened inside the first staff meeting that newly installed Executive Producer Nick Bilton held this morning with the team at “60 Minutes.”

And by all accounts, it did not go well. Even though Nick brought in bagels for everyone.

The first word we got on what happened was from Oliver Darcy in a rare “special early edition” of his indispensable Status newsletter. (Kudos to him for not slapping the overused “Breaking News” label on it.)

Darcy’s reporting was based on an audio recording of what he labeled as “a stunning confrontation” by none other than veteran correspondent Scott Pelley, who has been with the program since 2004. Pelley, who you will remember was also the anchor of “The CBS Evening News” from 2011 to 2017, and was arguably the most successful anchor to sit in the chair since some guy named Cronkite, and (for a while at least) a successor named Rather.

Nick Bilton wasn’t too far along in his remarks to the assembled team before Scott Pelley began grilling him like a cheese sandwich. Of all the reporting we’ve seen on what happened for the rest of the meeting, Darcy’s Status has the most detailed account of just what went down. But it is behind a paywall, so we will also point you to the later New York Times story. The Times also received a recording of the meeting. (Someone inside was busy with that recording!) Click here for a gift article link to read the NYT story, even if you aren’t a subscriber.

From the Times: “For me, the journalism is the journalism,” Mr. Bilton said, according to the recording. “That is why I am here. That is why we are all here.” Bilton later warned that the broadcast television industry that incubated “60 Minutes” would soon be obsolete. “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting, OK?”

Bilton went on to defend his new boss at CBS, Bari Weiss: “Bari loves this institution,” he added. “She loves ’60 Minutes.’”

And with that, Pelley pounced with the money quote that will be remembered most from today’s kerfuffle (as we’d call it in the Midwest): “She is murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” the correspondent said. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”

Things did not improve from that moment on. (Again, check the NYT story link above for their full reporting of what else was said.) Bari Weiss was not in the room, but at one point, Charles Forelle, who Weiss has installed as the Managing Editor of CBS News, tried to interject on Bilton’s behalf and told Pelley he was “being rude.”

As the encounter between Pelley and Bilton had taken on the tension of a vintage Mike Wallace interview, Forelle told Pelley that “This is not an interview.”

Pelley shot back with “It’s working for me.”

There was more, until finally Bilton wrapped things up by thanking everyone for “being so welcoming” and encouraging them to “enjoy the bagels.” After he departed, the staff in attendance applauded Mr. Pelley.

You may be surprised to learn, as we were, that the whole meeting lasted “roughly 15 minutes,” according to the New York Times story. Seems like that much drama would have taken a little more time.

After the meeting, we assume that there was a debriefing between Mr. Bilton and Ms. Weiss. Though there is no recording of it that has surfaced, we would speculate that it went something like this:

(BariW): “So Nick, how did your first meeting with the team go?”

(NickB): “JFC, Bari—that was the very definition of a hostile work environment!”

(BariW): “Yeah, they were going to need to take their frustrations out on someone. And that someone wasn’t going to be me.”

(NickB): “Your absence was notable. One of your flacks said that you were prepared to come, but they asked you not to—because of the staff’s ill feelings around last Thursday’s firings.”

(BariW): “Sure, well that — and the fact that one of my team of bodyguards was out today, I think he was working his other job down in Jersey at Delaney Hall.”

(NickB): “Listen, Pelley is loaded for bear. But I stood my ground and told him that ‘I would not be intimidated in front of this group of people.’"

(BariW): “Good for you! How did that go over?”

(NickB): “Like a fart in church, Bari. I thought Forelle was going to have my back. He didn’t help when he called Pelley rude. And he did it more than once.”

(BariW): “Well, Nick, you knew the job was going to be tough when you took it. And when Pelley wouldn’t respond to our calls asking to meet with him privately, you had to know that today was going to be tough.”

(NickB): “Tough?? This morning was a gunfight at the O.K. Corral!”

(BariW): “Sorry. Things will be better the next time you go back in there.”

(NickB): “Oh, I’m not going back in there. Not until you can spare a couple of those bodyguards!”

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