How Scott Pelley Turned His Firing into a Reputational Win

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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