Rachel Maddow sounds off on ‘oligarchic takeover’ of CBS News, after Scott Pelley’s firing

MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow blasted leaders of CBS News on Tuesday night, accusing them of “essentially bulldozing one of the great news organizations” in American history, after longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley was fired from the famed program.

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Pelley, who had worked for “60 Minutes” since 2004, was let go after a tense meeting involving the show’s new executive producer and the network’s editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss. Maddow said he had confronted leadership over a “sort of oligarchic takeover of that news organization.” 

In a statement, Pelley — whom Maddow called “one of the most respected journalists in America” — accused “new management” of instructing him “to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.”

According to Maddow, CBS News has been undergoing “a transformation” driven by “corporate interests.” A trail of veteran correspondents and longtime producers have left the company since David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, appointed Weiss to head the operation last year. 

As the MS NOW host noted, the CEO and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, are close allies of President Donald Trump’s, and some of his most prominent donors. Critics have accused the younger Ellison of softening the network’s coverage of the president and his administration to protect his family’s business interests.