Scott Pelley compares his firing to the murder of his wife

Scott Pelley opens with his dramatic exit from CBS News…and he doesn’t hold back his emotion, comparing his firing from “60 Minutes” to the murder of his wife.

In a new interview with The New York Timesthe longtime news veteran became visibly emotional while discussing how he feels after being ax network last week – emotionally saying, “It’s like your spouse was murdered.”

News of Pelley’s firing follows a wave of layoffs, which he describes as a “Black Thursday” moment in internal upheaval…saying the sudden departures of longtime colleagues — many of whom he worked with for decades — have devastated him.

The former “60 Minutes” anchor noted how close the newsroom team had grown over the years, describing colleagues who traveled, worked and reported together in high-pressure environments for decades.

At one point, Pelley said the experience made him feel like he was losing a “family,” emphasizing the emotional toll the layoffs took on the tight-knit production team.

He also admitted that his earlier frustration during an internal meeting was fueled by the scale and speed of the changes, acknowledging that his reaction had been very emotional in the moment… but denied Tom Cibrowskiclaims he was physically abusive Nick Bilton.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us… Mr. Cibrowski admitted at the meeting that he was wrong when he said “physically” and immediately retracted that comment.

Despite his own departure from CBS, Pelley said he’s not focused on losing his job — but rather on the longtime colleagues he believes were abruptly let go.

At one point, Pelley claimed that the publisher Bari Weiss pushed for changes that more closely matched what he described as a plan.Asset narrative, saying he believed the newsroom was tilted in a specific political direction.

In another part of the conversation, Pelley claimed to have witnessed what he called unprecedented influence on major articles, describing it as a “thumbs on the scale” situation during editorial discussions.

He further claimed that Weiss appeared to be “paying attention to the president’s opinions”, suggesting that the editorial balance had been disrupted during key editorial decisions.

The CBS News spokesperson told TMZ… “In an email, Bari made four points during editorial exchanges. They were not politically motivated and were offered solely to make the article as strong, fair and accurate as possible. As is often the case in any collaborative newsroom, not everything she raised was included in the final article.”

As we previously reported … the veteran reporter’s departure followed reported internal tensions over “60 Minutes” restructuring decisions, with Pelley sharply criticizing the new management during a staff meeting … the next day, he was immediately fired.