David Ellison Assures Lesley Stahl That ’60 Minutes’ Will Have Editorial Independence

Lesley Stahl says that Paramount CEO David Ellison assured her in a call on Sunday that 60 Minutes will have editorial independence.

Stahl, the longest serving correspondent on the show, told The New York Times on Tuesday about the conversation. She also relayed Ellison’s comments to the newsmagazine’s staffers, amid a champagne toast for the show earlier in the day, following one of its most tumultuous weeks, according to a source familiar with the events.

Ellison’s call was an indication of the seriousness of the concerns over the top-rated show’s future, amid a backlash following the termination of the show’s executive producer Tanya Simon and two other correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. After Scott Pelley verbally confronted the show’s new executive producer Nick Bilton over the firings, Pelley also was terminated last week.

On Friday, Stahl and correspondents Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said that they would remain with the show, while defending the fired journalists and criticizing the way that they were “treated so shabbily, with such indecency.”

In the aftermath of Pelley’s exit, executive producer Nick Bilton has tried to reassure staffers that the show would be free of corporate interference. Pelley, Alfonsi and Vega have claimed that corporate higher ups have tried to interfere with their stories.

In an interview with the Times published last weekend, Pelley alleged the CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss tried to insert the Trump administration’s account of what happened with the shooting death of Renee Good amid ICE protests in Minneapolis. The Trump administration claimed that Good was trying to strike the officer with her vehicle, but video showed that her wheels were turned away from him, Pelley noted.

A CBS News spokesperson described Weiss’ requests as “the course of editorial back-and-forth.”

“They had no political motivation and were proposed solely to make the piece as strong, fair, and accurate as possible,” the spokesperson said.

Paramount had no comment. The Guardian first reported on Stahl’s remarks to staff.