In lengthy exit note, Scott Pelley blasted new CBS management for “directing me to inject lies and bigotry…”

“There has never been a show like ’60 Minutes’ in America,” Paley began his statement.

In a statement, Pelley lashed out at the new management, accusing him of directing him to “inject lies and bias into politically sensitive stories” and include “unsubstantiated assertions,” The Wrap reported.

“There’s never been a show like 60 Minutes in America.

The Sunday tradition is the most successful event in history. For more than a decade, its innovative growth on every major online platform has expanded its reach to countless millions around the world. This spring, at the end of its 58th season, “60 Minutes” was growing rapidly, with CBS’s audience jumping an unheard of 9 percent.

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60 has been America’s No. 1 show for decades because our beloved viewers found integrity, character and humanity in our stories. When stewardship of the program was handed over to me and my colleagues, our responsibility was to aggressively expand into new eras of media technology while retaining the values ​​that audiences have come to expect. Now, the new owners of our network are jettisoning the legend in an apparent effort to curry favor with the Trump administration.

The waste is heartbreaking.

Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best broadcast journalists were brutally fired without cause. Good guys are silenced because they stand up for us, the audience. They stand for fairness and against political bias; they stand for professionalism against chaos.

In my case, I was instructed by new management to inject lies and bias into politically sensitive stories. I was told to include unsubstantiated assertions. In every case so far, I’ve managed to ignore or reject these instructions. Recently, politicians have been invited to select journalists for radio interviews. Letting politicians control “60 Minutes” interviews isn’t what it does. In the end, the incompetence and unprofessionalism of the new management wreaked havoc. In one case involving my story, the entire show aired within 19 minutes of not airing.

At 60 Minutes, we fought harder than anyone knew to save the show that became an American icon. We owe it to our millions of viewers. I was deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we received to “keep fighting”. Most of the men and women at CBS News are still in this fight. But now the collapse of values ​​at the top has become untenable. 60 Minutes’ leadership is no longer recognized. The principles I held dear were gone, and I had to go.

After 37 years at CBS, I leave with one emotion – a deep sense of gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who often put their lives on the line to encourage and enrich my work. I pray for a day when these men and their ideals will be respected again – a day when sanity, competence and courage return.

—Scott Pelley”

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Paley called Weis and Bilton unfit for their jobs during a staff meeting on Monday. He even said Bilton “will never be welcome here,” according to CNN.

The meeting ended without any clear resolution on the way forward.

On Tuesday night, Bilton wrote to the “60 Minutes” staff about Paley’s exit, “I know what Scott means to many of you, and I don’t say this lightly. I made multiple attempts over the weekend to have a direct conversation with him, and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. That is not the path Scott has chosen.”

“I’m not going to complain to you about last week again,” Bilton added. “What I will pledge is this: my unwavering support for each of you, the journalism you do, and the things we will do together in the future.”