‘CBS Evening News’ anchor thanks Scott Pelley during broadcast: ‘He believed Freedom of the Press’

During Wednesday's broadcast, CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil took a moment to publicly honor recently fired journalist Scott Pelley, following the veteran reporter's high-profile exit from 60 Minutes earlier this week.

Honoring a Legacy

Dokoupil reflected on the mentorship and standards set by Pelley during their time together at the network. "When I started at CBS, Scott Pelley was in this very chair still doing a dozen stories a year for 60 Minutes," Dokoupil said. "He believed Freedom of the Press, to quote James Madison, was the right that guaranteed all the others and that the stakes are always that high. He worked every single day to live up to that standard." The broadcast concluded with a direct sign-off: "Well, Scott, from all of us, thank you."

The Conflict at 60 Minutes

Pelley's departure comes amid significant internal friction at the influential program. On Tuesday, CBS News fired the 68-year-old journalist one day after a heated staff meeting where he reportedly claimed Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss was murdering the show and questioned the credentials of the program's new leadership.

According to a report on the Status website, Pelley directed his criticism at new executive producer Nick Bilton during a staff gathering. In a termination notice obtained by The Associated Press, Bilton—a tech journalist and filmmaker without a traditional broadcast news background—accused Pelley of staging an "ambush" and displaying "remarkable incivility and contempt" toward him.

In a statement regarding his exit, Pelley maintained that the program has lost its core identity under its current management. He alleged that he was pressured to "inject falsehoods and bias" into his reporting, though he did not provide specific examples of those requests. The move marks a period of major leadership turmoil for the news organization.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.