Scott Pelley ripped for claiming he was ‘in combat’ in Afghanistan and Iraq after CBS News firing
Journalist Scott Pelley faced everything from widespread mockery to stolen valor accusations after insisting he was "in combat" while covering war zones for CBS News.
Pelley was fired from the long-running CBS News show on Tuesday following a bitter clash with the network's editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and new "60 Minutes" executive producer Nick Bilton. Pelley, who first joined CBS News in 1989 and did not serve in the military, quickly raised eyebrows with a statement he gave following his termination.
"I have been in combat in Afghanistan. I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast," Pelley, who has reported from several war zones in his career, told The New York Times.
SCOTT PELLEY FIRED AT CBS NEWS AFTER BLOWUPS WITH BARI WEISS, NEW '60 MINUTES' PRODUCER
Pelley also told the Times that CBS News had pressured him to insert bias into stories for "60 Minutes" since Weiss took control of the network.
CBS News did not immediately respond to the accusation he was asked to "insert bias," but the combat claims struck a nerve on social media.
Podcaster Jim Treacher responded, "Stolen valor it is, then."
NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck responded, "Oh FFS the GALL of this guy. He thinks he's on par with American troops."
"This no talent a--clown hasn't been ‘in combat’ anywhere, ever. He's observed others in combat. That he doesn't know the difference is entirely on brand for him though," Buck Sexton reacted.
Clay Travis added, "These ‘journalists’ really think they have the most important jobs in the world. The sanctimony is incredible. You got paid tens of millions of dollars to be on a TV show people only watched because it came on after the NFL, dude."
Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway wrote, "This propaganda clown falsely claimed to have served in combat in multiple theaters because he read TV lines near real soldiers," calling it, "Low-rent Brian Williams behavior."
Williams was suspended and demoted from his anchor role at "NBC Nightly News" in 2015 after he falsely claimed to have been in a helicopter in Iraq that was forced to land after being struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.
"He was never in combat anywhere," The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis wrote.
One critic added, "According to the Scott Pelley standard, I’ve been in the NFL and MLB, because I’ve been there when men played the game."
Another observer wrote, "If ‘being in combat’ means you are owed a $5 million a year contract a few million veterans would like a word."
Many others had thoughts:
Pelley's exit came after he lashed out at Bilton during an all-staff meeting Monday where he accused Weiss of "murdering" the storied newsmagazine program and bluntly told Bilton, who has no linear television experience, that he had "slender qualifications" for his new role. Before joining "60 Minutes," Bilton was a documentary filmmaker and a technology journalist for The New York Times and Vanity Fair.
CBS NEWS FIRES ‘60 MINUTES’ CORRESPONDENTS, TOP PRODUCER IN SWEEPING SHAKEUP OF STORIED PROGRAM
Puck media correspondent Dylan Byers reported Tuesday that CBS News leadership held a meeting with Pelley and that "the two sides did not find common ground," accelerating Pelley's exit from the network. Weiss reportedly asked Pelley to make an apology and accused him of creating a hostile work environment.
Fox News Digital previously learned that Weiss and Bilton repeatedly reached out to Pelley to express they wanted him to remain a "60 Minutes" correspondent and that he hadn't engaged with them prior to Monday's tense showdown, according to a source familiar to CBS News leadership.
Pelley erupted at the meeting over last week's abrupt firing of several "60 Minutes" staffers, including correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, as well as executive producer Tanya Simon, referring to their ouster as "Black Thursday." Weiss appointed Bilton as Simon's successor the same day.
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
