Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel called out CBS News leadership, branding executives “Trump suck-ups.” It followed Scott Pelley‘s firing from 60 Minutes. Kimmel used his Wednesday monologue to defend Pelley. The veteran journalist’s exit has started a debate about journalistic integrity at the storied news program.
Jimmy Kimmel criticizes CBS News leadership
Kimmel celebrated Pelley as a reporter who stood for “truth and integrity” during his 57-year association with what the host described as the “gold standard for broadcast journalism.” The ABC presenter then directed his anger squarely at those now running CBS News.
“Last night, the Trump suck-ups at CBS fired a great and deeply respected journalist, Scott Pelley, from his job at ‘60 Minutes,’ because he stood up for truth and integrity,” Kimmel told his audience.
Kimmel explained that Pelley reached a breaking point after recent upheaval within the division. It included the firing of reporters Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, as well as executive producer Tanya Simon. Simon’s replacement, Kimmel stated pointedly, is someone “who has no experience in TV news.”
According to Jimmy Kimmel and the correspondent himself, the final straw for Scott Pelley came during an internal meeting. “He said, ‘The collapse of values at the top has become untenable.’ And he let him have it in a staff meeting, right to the new guy’s face. So, last night they fired him,” the host recounted.
The comedian then made a satirical jab at broader changes at the network, joking that 60 Minutes would soon be “replaced by new episodes of Reporters Unleashed.'” The quip referenced CBS’s decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and replace it with Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed.
Kimmel also brought attention to President Donald Trump’s reaction to Pelley’s firing. Trump celebrated the dismissal, calling the journalist “part of a gang of crooked stupid people.” The host added wryly, “That should make for an interesting situation at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner which is apparently back on.”
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu for Coming Soon.
