All posts tagged: Fired

Tony Dokoupil’s Tribute to Fired Scott Pelley on CBS Evening News

Tony Dokoupil’s Tribute to Fired Scott Pelley on CBS Evening News

Tony Dokoupil shared some heartfelt words on CBS Evening News about his former colleague Scott Pelley after the veteran journalist was fired on Tuesday. During Wednesday’s show, Dokoupil — who was appointed anchor of the evening newscast by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss at the start of her tenure last year — took a moment to praise Pelley’s career. “When I started at CBS, Scott Pelley was in this very chair, and still doing a dozen stories a year for 60 Minutes. And amid all of that, still meeting every new correspondent to share his view of the mission here,” he said. “He believed freedom of the press, to quote [James] Madison, was ‘the right that guaranteed all the others.’ And the stakes are always that high in that, if you’d made it to CBS News, you were among the best in the world. He worked every single day to live up to that standard.” A compilation of some of Pelley’s work at CBS over the years, after he joined the network in 1989, was then played. The video …

60 Minutes veteran Scott Pelley fired in major TV shakeup

60 Minutes veteran Scott Pelley fired in major TV shakeup

A major shakeup is underway after CBS veteran Scott Pelley was fired by the new executive producer of 60 Minutes, Nick Bilton, following a tense exchange between the pair. Nick was recently appointed to the position by CBS’s controversial editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, after working as a columnist at The New York Times, and has little broadcast TV experience.  Scott, meanwhile, has worked with CBS for 37 years after joining the team as a reporter in 1989. He went on to serve as CBS News‘ chief White House correspondent from 1997 to 1999, and was the CBS Evening News anchor from 2011 to 2017. The 68-year-old has also been a correspondent for 60 Minutes since 2004.  Scott was fired from CBS following a fallout with the channel’s executives, including Nick. “Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” Nick wrote in a letter to Scott on Tuesday, as reported by Variety. “And I have heard you. I therefore write on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated effective immediately.“ © CBS via Getty ImagesScott has been fired from CBS According to several outlets, Scott called …

Scott Pelley Fired From CBS News’ 60 Minutes After Heated Meeting

Scott Pelley Fired From CBS News’ 60 Minutes After Heated Meeting

In a stunning development, veteran CBS News 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley has been fired by the network after clashing with the show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton, in a fiery meeting with the show’s staff Monday. Bilton informed Pelley of his termination Tuesday evening, writing in a note that his employment was “terminated for cause effective immediately.” Pelley has been at CBS News for decades, and previously served as the anchor of the CBS Evening News. In the meeting on June 1 with new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton, Pelley said that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is “murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place; she was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.” He also said that Bilton, a veteran technology journalist who previously worked at The New York Times and Vanity Fair, had “slender” qualifications for what is arguably the most important EP job in television news. “You should hear this from me first. We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” Bilton wrote in a note to …

Fired ’60 Minutes’ reporter Cecilia Vega speaks out against CBS

Fired ’60 Minutes’ reporter Cecilia Vega speaks out against CBS

After a complete shakeup at CBS’ “60 Minutes,” ousted correspondent Cecilia Vega said she had been facing pressure to insert political bias into her stories and dealing with censorship. “I very much fear what comes next for … the future of the legendary broadcast,” Vega said in a social media post on Thursday referring to “60 Minutes.” Vega, who had worked at the newsmagazine for three years, was fired alongside the program’s executive producer, Tanya Simon, and fellow correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, who notoriously clashed with CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss over a segment on President Trump’s immigration policies. The latest shakeup follows multiple controversial moves by Weiss, who’s set on remaking the institution long defined by tradition. She arrived at CBS News in October with no television experience, installed by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison after he acquired her digital news outlet, the Free Press, with a mandate to change the network. Ellison’s political intent has been brought into question as he owns CBS’ parent company. The billionaire and his father, Larry Ellison, …

Russian Oreshnik Missile Fired in January Was Nine Years Old, Ukrainian Experts Say

Russian Oreshnik Missile Fired in January Was Nine Years Old, Ukrainian Experts Say

KYIV, May 29 (Reuters) – A Russian Oreshnik missile ⁠fired ⁠at Ukraine in January appears ⁠to have been made nine years ago and contains only Russian and ​Belarusian components, Ukrainian experts said on Friday after examining fragments of a weapon Russia says is a game-changer. The ‌Oreshnik, which Russia first used against ‌Ukraine in 2024, is a nuclear-capable missile with a range of over 5,000 km (3,100 miles). ⁠Russian President Vladimir ⁠Putin has said the Oreshnik is impossible to intercept, though many Western ​experts have questioned that assertion.  Debris recovered from the small number of Oreshnik missiles fired by Russia during its war in Ukraine has helped Kyiv to learn more about the weapon – and to question some of the ​hype around it. Ukrainian authorities assess the Oreshnik to be a modernised version of the older ⁠RS-26 Rubezh ⁠missile which was first ⁠successfully test-launched in ​2012. At a presentation of electronics recovered from Russian missiles and drones, a Ukrainian missile forensics expert ​said on Friday that the ⁠Oreshnik recovered in January had been assembled …

Tom Hardy ‘not fired’ from MobLand as co-star Helen Mirren shows support

Tom Hardy ‘not fired’ from MobLand as co-star Helen Mirren shows support

The real-life drama surrounding Paramount+ series MobLand is rumbling on, with fresh details clarifying that star Tom Hardy has not been fired from the show – but there is reportedly discontent behind the scenes. The series, created by Top Boy’s Ronan Bennett, stars Hardy as Harry Da Souza, a ‘fixer’ for the Harrigan crime family led by the formidable Conrad (Pierce Brosnan) and Maeve (Dame Helen Mirren). While the first season was an enormous commercial success, the future of the series has been questioned amid reports of growing frustration between Hardy and head writer Jez Butterworth. Although reports emerged last week alleging that Hardy had been fired, sources close to the show have since told Variety that the problems haven’t escalated that far just yet. The source states that there is some truth to Hardy being “difficult” during filming, amid reports of his lateness to set, demands for rehearsal time and tendency to suggest rewrites. On the other hand, the publication reports that Butterworth’s absence from set, due to commitments to other projects, had also …

Fired 60 Minutes Correspondent Cecilia Vega Calls Out Network

Fired 60 Minutes Correspondent Cecilia Vega Calls Out Network

Cecilia Vega, the veteran TV news correspondent who was fired from 60 Minutes on Thursday, said in a fiery statement, “I very much fear what comes next” for the long-running newsmagazine, which is undergoing a major overhaul under CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Weiss terminated Vega and fellow 60 correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, as well as executive producer Tanya Simon. She hired the veteran journalist Nick Bilton to become the show’s new EP. In her statement, Vega said that “in recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories,” though she did not go into detail about what that entailed. “Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions “Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self-driven,” she continued. “It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.” Vega joined 60 Minutes three years ago from ABC News, a major move for the network news veteran. “I held the line and refused to incorporate suggestions that …

Tom Hardy ‘not fired’ from Mobland despite claims of on-set clashes as saga rumbles on: report

Tom Hardy ‘not fired’ from Mobland despite claims of on-set clashes as saga rumbles on: report

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Tom Hardy has reportedly not been let go from Mobland, despite earlier reports that claimed he was axed from the British crime drama following clashes with producers. Last week, reports emerged that the British star, 48, who recently wrapped production on season two of the hit Paramount+ original, had not been asked back for season three. Sources claimed to several outlets that his firing was due in part to his conduct on-set and consistent tardiness. However, in a new development, a source close to production told Variety: “Tom was not fired, the door is not closed for season three, and things are being worked through creatively.” The outlet added that while there was indeed behind-the-scenes tension between Hardy and producers Jez Butterworth and David Glasser, the trio is actively trying to resolve all creative differences. The Independent has contacted Paramount and …