
How Scott Pelley Turned His Firing into a Reputational Win
From The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson by www.mollymcpherson.com
June 9, 2026 · 43 min
About this episode
The episode discusses how Scott Pelley managed to turn his firing from CBS into a reputational victory.
A 37-year 60 Minutes correspondent got fired in a conference room over a dinner he refused to attend. Scott Pelley lost his job and won the PR war in the same week, and the side that was supposed to be running the institution handed him the moral high ground in writing. Everyone is covering the firing. Molly is covering the two dueling statements, the word "performative" in a termination letter, and the moment CBS made it personal while Pelley kept it strictly business. Chapters: 0:00 ...
People in this episode
Host: Molly McPherson
Topics covered
- media
- reputation management
- corporate communication
- firing
- public relations
Keywords
- Scott Pelley
- CBS
- 60 Minutes
- firing
- public relations
- reputation management
- performative
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: CBS
Books & works: 60 Minutes
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