Nick Bilton, the dumb, dull, and severely underqualified former tech journalist who is now running 60 Minutes at the behest of Bari Weiss had his first meeting with his new colleagues today. It ended with him more or less being chased out of the room.
You can tell a lot about how much a boss is hated by his colleagues based on how quickly the details of a specific staff meeting leak to the press. In this case, news of Bilton eating shit made its way to various media reporters pretty much as it was happening, and it wasn't long before The New York Times and other outlets had obtained full audio recordings of the meeting. The results are in: Everyone at 60 Minutes already hates this goof's guts.
The highlight of the meeting was a confrontation between Bilton and longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. Pelley is instantly recognizable as the guy from the show who has a square jaw and stentorian voice, which makes him the ideal person to mix it up with a twerp like Bilton. This is a gravitas mismatch on par with James Harden finding himself switched onto Jalen Brunson in isolation.
According to the Times, Pelley interrupted Bilton to accuse Weiss of "murdering" the show Bilton has been tasked with producing. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that," said Pelley, according to an audio recording obtained by the Times.
Pelley then pointed out that both Bilton and Weiss are not qualified for the positions they hold, adding that Bilton will "never be welcome here.”
Pelley attempted to extract answers from Bilton about why several 60 Minutes staffers, among them vocal Weiss critic Sharyn Alfonsi and executive producer Tanya Simon, had been fired last Thursday, which Pelley referred to as "Black Thursday." Bilton simply told Pelley that those firings weren't his decision.
Status also obtained a recording of the meeting, and provided a little more color than can be found in the Times report, including this satisfying exchange:
Charles Forelle, a top Weiss deputy and managing editor of CBS News, interjected, telling Pelley that he was being "rude."
"This is not actually productive," Forelle said. "This is not an interview."
"It's working for me," Pelley replied.
"Anybody came into our house—this is '60 Minutes,'" Pelley added. "I guess you wandered in expecting to read a statement off?"
The Times reports that Bilton ended the meeting after just 15 minutes, and told everyone to "enjoy the bagels" on his way out. Pelley reportedly received applause from his colleagues after Bilton left.
