Are Lesley Stahl & Bill Whitaker Leaving ’60 Minutes’? What We Know
Scott Pelley‘s firing by CBS News has sparked questions about the future of 60 Minutes. The network has been undergoing a major transition since Bari Weiss took over as editor-in-chief in 2025, and 60 Minutes, specifically, has seen major staffing changes in recent months.
Many are now wondering about the fates of longtime CBS News journalists Lesley Stahl and Bill Whitaker, who have been staples on 60 Minutes for years. Scroll down for everything we know about the situation.
Are Lesley Stahl and Bill Whitaker leaving 60 Minutes?
So far, Stahl and Whitaker have not announced plans to leave 60 Minutes or CBS News. “I think they feel like if they leave, there’s nothing left of 60,” an insider told Variety.
Per Variety, Stahl, who has been on 60 Minutes since 1991, has a year-to-year contract. Whitaker joined the program in 2014 and also has not shared plans to leave at this time.
Who has left 60 Minutes so far?
Pelley is just the latest in a string of 60 Minutes casualties. He was fired on June 2 by Nick Bilton, who took over as the show’s new executive editor in May.
Bilton’s decision to terminate Pelley came after the latter questioned his new boss’ credentials at a staff meeting. As Bilton explained in Pelley’s termination letter: “Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear.”
Pelley, meanwhile, accused CBS News’ new management of trying to “curry favor with the Trump administration,” which he said has weakened the news programs.
Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi were also both recently axed from 60 Minutes, while Anderson Cooper left the program after two decades last month. Cooper said he was leaving the show to focus on spending more time with his family (he has two young children). He will now be strictly focusing on his CNN program, Anderson Cooper 360°.
Is 60 Minutes canceled?
No, 60 Minutes is not canceled so far, but changes are being made behind the scenes, and viewers are worried about the future of the show amid recent firings and exits.
The changes at CBS News came after the network’s parent company, Paramount, was bought by Skydance Media. The owner of Skydance is David Ellison, whose father, Larry Ellison, is a close ally of Donald Trump.
60 Minutes, Sundays, 7/6c, CBS
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A
"60 Minutes" might as well go the route of "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Late Show" franchise: Leave the air after a legendary long run on The Eye Network.
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J
Sadly, I have to agree. Maybe in another few years--when saner heads prevail and the adults are in charge--the show can be revived.
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N
They're both good journalists and they should both quit to save their reputations. Leslie Stahl is well past retirement age and probably has a pension equivalent to her salary at this point Bill Whitaker doesn't need anyone looking over his shoulder to make sure he doesn't offend the MAGAs. Let Jon Wertheim carry the show and see how long it lasts.
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L
Whether it is a small company or large things can get pretty nasty. When someone is hired to make changes they never sit with those that have tenor and have been in the trenches. They start to dismantle things that does not fit what they have as a perspective. Always starting with the most tenured. They eliminate to compensate their lack of experience or
skills. Not having any respect for those people who were the catalyst. Scott Pelly is very respected and he will bounce
back unfortunate but when someone has put in the blood sweat and tears it hits a nerve. Those two have no idea how
they could have sat down with those people and navigated a good parting of ways. Its a brutal way to treat people just
kicking them out the door. That was done because they do not have the experience, nor negotiation skills. I think it could have been handled better. Seeing what has been said I don't care what they do with their program I can see that its not
about staff its bottom line being a hatchet person. Its one thing to terminate another thing to lie about the termination and how it went down. It's sad and everyone needs to watch their backs they got rid of the tenured the others are just
the residue. I am one person I know and one opinion but I wont be watching this show again.
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G
While I don’t want to see anyone else loose their job, I hope they don’t give in and go to the dark side and become one of the Bari Weiss or Ellison believers. Too much respect for both of them.
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J
They may as well leave, if only to preserve their integrity.
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