Jimmy Kimmel Criticizes CBS Over Scott Pelley’s Firing

Jimmy Kimmel criticized CBS News executives for dismissing Scott Pelley, a long-standing ’60 Minutes’ correspondent. Kimmel’s remarks came during his Wednesday night monologue on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, where he accused CBS of punishing Pelley for defending the program’s standards.

Last night, CBS fired a great journalist, Scott Pelley, for standing up for truth and integrity at ’60 Minutes,’ a show that’s been the benchmark for 57 years,” Kimmel stated.

Kimmel pointed out that Pelley’s frustration arose after several changes at ’60 Minutes.’ These changes included dismissing correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, along with executive producer Tanya Simon.

Nick Bilton, the new executive producer, replaced Simon after CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss appointed him to the position. According to Kimmel, Pelley confronted Bilton during a meeting, criticizing the management changes.

Kimmel elaborated that Pelley’s confrontation with CBS management highlighted his discontent with the show’s new direction. He argued that Pelley’s actions were in defense of the show’s journalistic integrity.

Kimmel jested that ’60 Minutes’ might be retitled as ‘Reporters Unleashed,’ drawing a parallel to CBS’s new late-night changes. He mentioned former President Donald Trump’s reaction to Pelley’s firing, during which Trump criticized Pelley.

CBS’s termination notice to Pelley accused him of ambushing the meeting with incivility. However, CBS made no official comment on the firing. Pelley, in his statement, claimed ’60 Minutes’ had lost its core values under the new management and rejected allegations of bias.

Bari Weiss told staff that trust was damaged, while Pelley denied any CBS executive had suggested reconciliation.