Bilton’s hiring, coming with high praise from Weiss and Cibrowski, was announced on May 28, the same day that “Black Thursday” saw the terminations of his predecessor, Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega from 60 Minutes.
Pelley ripped into Bilton as his new boss held a meet-and-greet with his new staff on June 1, the audio of which was obtained by the New York Times.
The former Vanity Fair senior correspondent assured staffers in the meeting that “the show is going to stay exactly like it is for now,” but acknowledged about the industry, “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting.”
When Bilton told staffers that Weiss “loves” the show, Pelley erupted in anger, yelling, “She is murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”
The Free Press founder Weiss was hired in October 2025 amid a whirlwind of controversy, reportedly with marching orders to shake things up and steer the network toward a more centrist direction after it had gone too “woke.”