Former '60 Minutes' Producer Stands With Scott Pelley, Calls Bari Weiss 'Demonstrably Unqualified'
A former 60 Minutes producer is speaking out after correspondent Scott Pelley was fired by the show and CBS News following an alleged confrontation with new executive producer Nick Bilton.
"People have been yelling at each other at 60 Minutes for decades," Rome Hartman wrote via LinkedIn on Wednesday, June 3. "I know, because I was there for a lot of the shouting matches. I produced more than 160 segments for 60 Minutes over 25+ years before retiring last year. And spirited conversations among colleagues when talking about really important issues and stories have always been an essential part of making those stories — and the show — better."
Hartman continued, "So when Scott Pelley stepped up to challenge newly-appointed Executive Producer Nick Bilton in his first all-hands meeting Monday, he was doing what he SHOULD have done. Was he angry? Damned right. Three days earlier, the entire top management of 60 Minutes had been fired in a remarkably callous and disrespectful way, and Pelley and everyone else remaining on the staff were blindsided."
Us confirmed on Tuesday, June 2, that Pelley's contract with CBS News was terminated after the contributor got into a verbal confrontation with Bilton during a staff meeting the day prior. In a memo to Pelley, Nilton wrote that he "chose ambush" in a staff meeting — a description that troubled Hartman.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/former-60-minutes-producer-stands-190043750.html