The Five Cheers ‘Pompous’ Scott Pelley’s Firing: ’60 Minutes Murdered Itself’

The hosts of Fox News show The Five cheered new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton’s decision to fire veteran anchor Scott Pelley on Tuesday after Pelley criticized the show’s new leadership at a staff meeting.

Bilton’s first meeting with 60 Minutes staff on Monday– after being appointed to his new role by CBS editor Bari Weiss on Thursday amid a slew of firings– was hijacked by Pelley, who demanded to know more details on the firings, which included correspondent Cecilia Vega and the show’s long-time Executive Editor Draggan Mihailovich. 

The former anchor of CBS Evening News also took aim at Weiss, claiming she had “no qualifications for her job” and is “murdering 60 Minutes.” Pelley criticized Bilton directly, telling him he “would never be welcomed” at the show and calling out Bilton’s “slender” qualifications for the job.

Bilton announced Pelley’s termination in a letter addressed to the longtime 60 Minutes correspondent on Tuesday evening, calling out his “misconduct” and “antipathy to the future of the show” before informing him of his firing. The move triggered outrage from a swath of media figures, including MS NOW anchor Rachel Maddow, who accused Bilton of overseeing a “Hungarian, oligarchic-style takeover” at President Donald Trump’s urging.

Wednesday’s edition of The Five characterized Pelley’s ouster in a starkly different light.

“This guy throws a tantrum in a public view. Then he leaks it to everyone to amplify his like appearance as some kind of hero,” said Greg Gutfeld. “He just looks like a cartoon because he is a cartoon.”

He continued:

If you look at people like Nick Shirley and Chris Rufo, Bill Melugin’s border coverage, [Michael] Shellenberger on homelessness, it reveals how far 60 Minutes has fallen. They have not done any real investigative pieces, and the all the mistakes they have made. You remember Leslie Stahl talking about the laptop, denying it was real, or Pelley himself blaming Biden’s infirmities on a stutter? These guys are idiots. Goodbye.

Kayleigh McEnany struck a similar tone, telling co-host Jesse Watters that the newsmagazine was to blame for its own upheaval. Watters agreed, calling the show “bloated” and “stuck in the past,” before Martha MacCallum turned the conversation back to the “pomoupous” Pelley.

Read their exchange below:

MCENANY: A lot of people would argue, Jesse, that 60 Minutes murdered itself. I mean, you had Scott Pelley bringing on Marc Elias as if he were some neutral lawyer or victim of Russian collusion.

WATTERS: Yeah, he slobbered all over [Andrew] McCabe. They had some moms on, and he said, “Eh, what’s a little child porn in the library? Never hurt anybody.” The guy has massive TDS, and he’s pompous. And there’s a lot of pompous people on television, but this guy– he’s more than even Greg. If your boss is new and comes in and wants to shake things up, and you have new ownership, do you secretly tape the boss and then leak it? No. I mean, he was asking to get axed, and this is the second time. He got axed from the anchor chair of the CBS Evening News. He got axed again. He’s been there for thirty seven years. He wanted to go, and it was his time to go. With that said, this place is a juggernaut. They did $11 million an episode last year. They make three to four billion, CBS, they throw off each year. It’s a really well-oiled machine, but they are bloated, they are woke, and they are stuck in the past. And if they want to reinvent themselves, they have to do a little bit more than bring Bari Weiss in. They got to clean house, change the culture because if you don’t change with it, you are dead.

MCENANY: Yeah, I saw some headline, you know, “60 Minutes could lose its entire staff,” and I thought to myself, Martha, that could be a good thing.

[…]

MACCULLUM:  The last several times I came by it and turned it on, I was like, ug, you know? About thirty seconds in, you’re like no, I really don’t feel like wasting my time with this. Scott Pelley is so pompous. And, you know, you are, too, Jesse.

WATTERS: No, I am not. Not like him.

MACCULLUM: I’m about to give you a compliment. You have a sense of humor about yourself.

WATTERS: Yes, I do.

MACCULLUM: Like, you can laugh at yourself.

WATTERS: I do. Many times, I laugh at myself.

MACCULLUM: This man has never laughed at himself in a million– in his entire life. I mean, he looks like he would pop if someone, you know–

GUTFELD: Can you imagine having a real conversation with him?

MACCULLUM: No!

GUTFELD: I don’t think it’s possible.

WATTESR: Pass the asparagus, urgently.

MACCULLUM: Yes, he’s studied, and everything’s so important, and every word that comes out of his mouth is like a drop of wisdom. I think he knew he was going to get fired, so he blew up the meeting because he wanted to go out with a bang.

Watch above via Fox News.

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