Axed 60 Minutes Stars Scott Pelley and Sharyn Alfonsi Score Columbia Journalism School Gigs

(Photos via: Paul Hennessy / SOPA Images/Sipa USA/ Sipa via AP Images and 60 Minutes)

Former 60 Minutes correspondents Scott Pelley and Sharyn Alfonsi have new jobs, several months after the show gave them the ax.

Columbia Journalism School announced on Monday that both reporters are joining the university, soon after Pelley’s highly-publicized firing and after Alfonsi’s contract expired following her own public scrap with CBS News boss Bari Weiss.

Alfonsi and Pelley are coming aboard as journalists-in-residence for the 2026-27 school year.

“We’re both excited and honored to welcome two journalists of this caliber to our Journalist in Residence Program,” Columbia’s J-School Dean Jelani Cobb said in a statement. “Their distinguished track records in investigative reporting highlight the amazing opportunity our students will have to learn from them, and we look forward to having Sharyn and Scott with us this year.”

Here is what the two will do, according to Columbia’s announcement:

During their residency, Alfonsi and Pelley will work closely with students, individually and as a group, to fine-tune investigative and sourcing skills through lectures, workshops and special events. They will also each contribute a piece to the Columbia Journalism Review.

Their hiring comes a few months after Pelley was booted from CBS, following his scathing rant against Weiss and new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton during a staff meeting, during which Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” the news program. 

Weiss later said Pelley had “broken” the trust of the newsroom with his diatribe. Bilton fired Pelley in early June, saying Pelley “hijacked” his first meeting with the 60 Minutes crew and showed a total unwillingness to collaborate moving forward.

President Donald Trump weighed in afterward, branding Pelley a “stiff” who was just another member of the “crooked” mainstream press during an interview with the New York Post.

As for Alfonsi, CBS let her contract expire in May following her complaint about “corporate meddling” at CBS News.

Page Six Hollywood’s Tatiana Siegel reported at the time that Alfonsi hired media lawyer Bryan Freedman to represent her; Freedman famously scored Megyn Kelly a $69 million settlement from NBC News in 2019.

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