Lesley Stahl calls “60 Minutes ”firings ‘the hardest chapter of my career’

Key Points

• Lesley Stahl is opening up about the “hardest chapter” of her career — the recent firings at 60 Minutes.

• “This was by far the worst experience I’ve been involved in, or even witnessed,” the journalist told Puck News in a new interview.

• Among the fired 60 Minutes colleagues was Scott Pelley, who accused CBS Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the newsmagazine.

Lesley Stahl is getting candid about the recent firings at 60 Minutes.

The correspondent and host addressed the dismissals at CBS‘ flagship TV news magazine and where she stands after what she called “the hardest chapter of my career.”

“And it’s been a long career,” she added, speaking with Puck News. “It’s been over 50 years. This was by far the worst experience I’ve been involved in, or even witnessed. I mean, firing seven people, including the entire management team over here, plus reporters and producers…”

Executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi are among the recent firings amid CBS News’ tumultuous transition.

Most recently, Scott Pelley was fired from 60 Minutes after accusing CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the long-running program, and told newly appointed Executive Producer Nick Bilton he had “slender” qualifications for his role during an explosive staff meeting.

“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear. And I have heard you,” Bilton wrote in a memo to Pelley, that was reviewed by Entertainment Weekly. “I therefore write on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated effective immediately.”

As for why he was fired, Stahl theorized that Pelley was let go because he didn’t get answers concerning why their colleagues were let go. “That’s what he was agitated about,” Stahl told the publication. “Tell us why they were fired. That was his question. He never got an answer. They felt he was insubordinate for asking that question.”

In a memo released on Friday, Stahl and her 60 Minutes colleagues Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim addressed whether or not they would remain on the show amid the firings.

“We want to express how sorry we are that these principled, fair, and honest journalists were treated so shabbily, with such indecency,” the journalists said in part. “But, we have decided to stay on. We feared that our returning might be construed as an endorsement of the existing power structure. That is simply, categorically, not the case.”

They added: “We don’t want to see 60 Minutes die. We have been grieving because this whole mess has wounded and damaged the broadcast.”

In response to the journalists’ memo, a CBS News spokesperson shared a statement with Entertainment Weekly, reading: “We’re excited for Season 59 with Lesley, Bill, and Jon as star correspondents and Nick at the helm.”

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She called the response to their statement from their colleagues “overwhelming,” saying, “It’s been a gush of lovely thank-you notes, just a flood. All these producers, associate producers, editors, even cameramen have just been standing paralyzed, waiting for us to tell them what we were going to do, and that really weighed heavily on us.”

Stahl added, “We don’t want to leave you, these lovely people we work with every day. It’s a big part of it, and they’re thanking us, and that feels good. It feels very good.”

Looking forward, Stahl knows there will be “a lot of pressure” on her, Whitaker, and Wertheim “to step up and do more pieces than we’ve been doing, and do them at the same level… We’re trying to explain to Nick what the procedures are — all the layers of fact-checking and screenings, just layer upon layer of fresh eyes, always fresh eyes, looking over and over and over.”

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly