Scott Pelley signs with CAA after being fired from ‘60 Minutes’

Scott Pelley has signed with Creative Artists Agency weeks after CBS News terminated his contract following a confrontation with the network’s new leadership, according to Deadline.

The 51-time Emmy-winning news anchor signed with CAA after being fired over an alleged confrontation with new executive producer Nick Bilton under Bari Weiss’ tenure. 

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that CAA will represent Mr. Pelley in all areas as the author and veteran correspondent looks for opportunities beyond CBS News, where he worked for 37 years. 

Mr. Pelley was fired shortly after confronting Mr. Bilton during a staff meeting over the direction of the storied newsmagazine and the influence of Ms. Weiss, who was named editor-in-chief of CBS News in October 2025 after Paramount Skydance — the company formed by the merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global, with David Ellison serving as chairman and CEO — acquired Ms. Weiss’s online publication The Free Press for $150 million and installed her in the role.

According to previously reported accounts of the meeting, Mr. Pelley questioned Mr. Bilton’s qualifications to lead the flagship program and accused Ms. Weiss of dismantling it, describing her early leadership as “murdering ’60 Minutes.’” 

Mr. Bilton accused Mr. Pelley of undermining his leadership, writing in a letter that the veteran correspondent had “hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt.” CBS News terminated Mr. Pelley’s contract following the June 2 staff meeting; the firing was first reported June 3. 

In a statement released after his firing, Mr. Pelley claimed management had instructed him to “inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story” and said he had refused those directions. 

In a farewell note to staff, Mr. Pelley wrote that “’60 Minutes’ has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories,” adding that “the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.” 

In his first interview since the firing, Mr. Pelley told The New York Times that the network’s new leadership “don’t know what they’re doing” and alleged a “subtle political bias” he said he had never previously witnessed at “60 Minutes” or CBS News.

Mr. Pelley joins fellow “60 Minutes” veteran Lesley Stahl as a CAA client. The agency also represents several others who departed the program over the past year amid the broader upheaval at CBS News: Bill Owens, who resigned as executive producer in protest, saying he would not be allowed to run the show as he always had; Tanya Simon, whom Ms. Weiss removed as executive producer; and Cecilia Vega, who said she was fired with her contract not set to expire until March 2027. The agency also represents CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who stepped away from the show at the conclusion of its most recent season. 

Many current and former “60 Minutes” correspondents are represented by rival agency UTA.