Scott Pelley Firing Sparks '60 Minutes' Civil War — Network Eyes Fresh Blood as Lesley Stahl's Future Hangs in Balance

Scott Pelley's dramatic firing after 22 years with 60 Minutes has left a talent vacuum, with only longtime vet Lesley Stahl remaining under CBS News chief Bari Weiss, and her position can make or break the show going forward, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Stahl, 84, is the last remaining famous face from the days when the show was TV's most influential newsmagazine, which is now at a crossroads after Pelley was canned for brutally lashing out at his bosses and the future direction of 60 Minutes.

CBS insiders consider Stahl the last "tether" to the show's glory days of high ratings and equally widespread respect, according to Page Six Hollywood.

She began her career as a producer on 60 Minutes in 1971, returning as a correspondent in 1991 after serving as CBS's White House reporter. Stahl is currently on a year-to-year contract status with the program.

"Scott wasn’t popular with most of the talent," said one insider of mercurial Pelley. "If I were her, I would stick around and see what happens. She’ll be 85 this year, and her contract is up."

However, the insider warned that CBS brass could use Pelley's ouster as the perfect excuse to wipe the slate clean at 60 Minutes, severing Stahl's longstanding ties and bringing in a fresh crop of correspondents to usher the once ratings-dominating show into a new era.

"If I'm CBS and I've basically lost everyone, maybe I just bring in all new people," the source dished, as 60 Minutes just lost longtime correspondent Anderson Cooper, who left his role on the show on his own accord in May after 20 years.

Insiders revealed that Weiss could keep some of the talent in-house by promoting contributing correspondent Norah O'Donnell to full-time status.

Weiss is also "mulling over" moving CBS chief correspondent Matt Gutman to replace Pelley. She poached the former ABC News chief national correspondent in December 2025, marking one of The Free Press founder's first major hires after starting her new job in October of that year.

60 Minutes had already begun a major housecleaning and overhaul that led to Pelley's heated exchange, which resulted in his firing.

On May 28, executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were all given their walking papers from 60 Minutes. Alfonsi had already had several clashes with Weiss before she was let go, including a blowup over a piece she claimed was "spiked" by her boss at the last minute in December 2025.

The same day, Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski heralded the arrival of new executive producer Nick Bilton, who had a background primarily in print and online journalism, similar to his former New York Times opinion editor boss.

Bilton held a meet-and-greet with 60 Minutes staff on June 1, promising the show would "stay exactly like it is for now," but warned of the industry, “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting."

When the former Vanity Fair special correspondent told his team that Weiss "loves 60 Minutes," Pelley went nuclear.

"She is murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that," the Texas native raged about the network bigwig.

Pelley then went on to insult Weiss and Bilton's professional experience.

"She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job. 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?" he raged, capping off his tirade by telling Bilton, "You will never be welcome here."

Pelley was "terminated with cause" the following day.