Scott Pelley, who was famously fired as “60 Minutes” anchor by CBS News after his ferocious meltdown against the network two months ago, has landed a new gig.
The Columbia Journalism School on Monday appointed Pelley and fellow former “60 Minutes” reporter Sharyn Alfonsi as Journalists in Residence.
Columbia Journalism School is pleased to announce the appointment of award-winning journalists Sharyn Alfonsi and @ScottPelley as Journalists in Residence for the 2026–27 academic year. pic.twitter.com/ecrE80P3tW
— Columbia Journalism School (@columbiajourn) August 3, 2026
The pair will work closely with students through lectures, workshops and special events designed to sharpen their reporting, investigative and sourcing skills.
“This is a critical time for a free press,” said Pelley. “Columbia is leading the way in training the next generation of great journalists and I am honored to join Sharyn in that vital cause.”
I was an intern at @CBSNews when Pelley would fill in for Katie Couric on the evening news. I watched in the control room one day as he directed them to slowly push the shot in on him as he took his glasses off. It was so fake I’ve remembered it for 15 years. https://t.co/mK7khEdQpm pic.twitter.com/atbk9LmgzM
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) June 3, 2026
Some public reaction to the appointments includes:
“Their first course: ‘How to Lose a Network Job in 60 Minutes.’”
“They should work for the CCP public radio station.”
“Just more proof that our Universities have become indoctrination factories.”
Meanwhile, the New York Post reports: “A former boss of ’60 Minutes’ wants to launch a rival news series with Scott Pelley and other correspondents and producers who have recently exited the iconic show – but insiders are skeptical about whether it can get off the ground.”
“Bill Owens – who resigned last year as ’60 Minutes’ executive producer amid a dustup between CBS and President Trump over how a Kamala Harris interview was edited – is looking to raise around $50 million to fund two years’ worth of in-depth and investigative news segments, sources with knowledge said.
“The lump sum Owens is seeking would bankroll everything from staffing and production to marketing and legal, sources added. Still, for the idea to work, former ’60 Minutes’ journalists would likely be forced to take a drastic pay cut.”
As WorldNetDaily reported June 3, CBS News fired Pelley after the longtime anchor viciously erupted in front of management and staff.
“Your employment with CBS News is terminated for cause effective immediately,” Nick Bilton, the new executive producer of the network’s signature broadcast, wrote to Pelley.
CBS has fired “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley, and rightly so. He betrayed journalistic principles in platforming debunked science, in being closed-minded and dogmatic, and in behaving like a pompous ass. Good riddance. https://t.co/saRQ6YCil8 pic.twitter.com/GMk7lfymP3
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) June 3, 2026
Bilton told Pelley he “chose ambush” over harmony.
“You hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt.”
Bilton added Pelley’s “performative display of hostility – enacted in front of the staff instead of in a civil, private conversation – demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show, or approaching my new tenure with a mind open to collaboration and progress.”
Here’s Scott Pelley before his 60 Minutes interview with Biden in late 2023 letting everyone know that Biden’s stutter can return when he’s been working too hard.
I can’t believe that 60 Minutes somehow missed Biden’s decline. 😜 pic.twitter.com/naqP8jjFLp
— MAZE (@mazemoore) June 1, 2026
Pelley wasted no time firing back at Bilton and CBS, saying: “The new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration. The waste is heartbreaking.
“Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.”
Days later, the 68-year-old Pelley sobbed uncontrollably through a New York Times interview, comparing his ouster to having a spouse “murdered.”
“Well, if we want to talk about it at an emotional level, the best thing that I can imagine in terms of describing it is that it’s like your spouse was murdered,” he explained.
Scott Pelley INSISTS “I’m fine” and this is “not about me,” but gets misty-eyed when saying being fired at CBS News is “like your spouse was murdered” and many times he “frankly fall[s] apart” because being married to someone is the same “depth” of “devotion” he gave to CBS….… pic.twitter.com/srOqyUZn6g
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 7, 2026
“There’s some moments of the day I feel fine. There are some moments of the day that I just frankly fall apart when I least expect it, not that there’s any particular trigger, but I do want to be clear that I do not feel sorry for me. I don’t care about me. I’m fine.”
CBS’s Scott Pelley breaks down in tears over how colleagues he went “into liberal combat together” with overseas were all fired, giving off feelings of “shock, dismay, impossible to believe”…
“Shock, dismay, impossible to believe, searching desperately for an explanation,… pic.twitter.com/RhpiD6ARy0
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 7, 2026
“I care about these people that I left behind, the people who are still trapped there, and this institution that I love so much. You said that I’ve been there 37 years. I’ve been married 42 years, so that’s the depth of my devotion.”
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‘Pompous a**’: CBS News fires ’60 Minutes’ anchor Scott Pelley after ferocious meltdown
