The new executive producer of 60 Minutes has reportedly passed on the large corner office traditionally associated with the role.
Nick Bilton, 49, opted against the premium space and instead moved into a smaller, more understated office inside the newsmagazine’s Manhattan headquarters, Status reported Thursday.
The decision was described by the outlet as “another gesture aimed at winning over staff,” coming after Bilton held a series of individual meetings with employees.
Bilton has reportedly turned the larger office into a conference room, a symbolic shift after a turbulent opening month in charge.
His arrival was preceded by a wave of dismissals at the program on May 28.
Days later, a June 1 meeting intended to introduce Bilton to the newsroom reportedly erupted into a heated exchange with longtime correspondent Scott Pelley, who was fired the next day.
About a month into the job, Bilton is still facing challenges in building confidence among staff, according to sources cited in the report.
Some employees are reportedly uneasy over what they view as Bilton’s close alignment with Bari Weiss, the senior CBS News executive seen as driving the recent overhaul.
Nick Bilton, 49, ditched the deluxe digs to downgrade to a more modest office elsewhere in the newsmagazine’s Manhattan HQ after an unfavorable first impression with the show’s team, Status reported on Thursday
The move was yet ‘another gesture aimed at winning over’ the 60 Minutes team after a rough first month as boss, source said
Members of the famously tight-knit team blame Bilton for allowing Weiss ‘to continue wielding extraordinary authority over the program’, sources said.
The dynamic has become so noticeable that ‘many have come to believe that Weiss is the show’s de facto executive producer,’ sources said.
Bilton is a former filmmaker and tech writer brought in to oversee a complete overhaul of the program.
Weiss – also a legacy media outsider – handpicked him herself after being hired by a then-new Paramount CEO David Ellison in October. Both have no broadcast experience.
60 Minutes, on the other hand, has long been known not to accept outsiders, a former network executive told the Mail last month.
Within months as chief, Weiss saw 60 Minutes ‘as calcified and resistant to change,’ sources told CNN in late May, days before the 60 Minutes firings.
Among those let go were correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, along with the show’s former executive producer, Tanya Simon, and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich.
Both had been the show’s top executives, marking a major editorial shakeup seemingly in the works for months. Bilton’s hiring was announced that day, paving the way for Pelley’s verbal lashing.
Staffers are said to be balking because of Bilton’s perceived allegiance to Bari Weiss, CBS News’ polarizing editor-in-chief
His qualms were similar to those of the remaining 60 Minutes staffers cited in the Status report. He accused a non-present Weiss of ‘murdering’ 60 Minutes. The show has long enjoyed a high degree of autonomy.
A recording of the June 1 meeting was quickly leaked to the press.
That weekend, after being fired, Pelley filmed an interview with The New York Times to claim ‘there’s a subtle political bias’ at both CBS and 60 Minutes, citing the new leadership.
Ellison, 43, is the son of conservative billionaire Larry Ellison, a known Donald Trump acquaintance.
He on-boarded Weiss just weeks after Paramount completed a merger with his former company, Skydance Media. The merger did not receive federal approval for more than a year beforehand, but was approved shortly after CBS settled a $16 million lawsuit filed against the network by Trump.
Claims of bribery and political slant followed.
60 Minutes’ top executive prior to Simon, Bill Owens, publicly accused Paramount of interfering with the show’s journalistic integrity while the merger was in limbo, resigning in protest in April 2025.
Cooper – a CNN anchor since 2001 – left his longtime 60 Minutes gig last May as his contract expired.
Weiss was personally appointed by Paramount CEO David Ellison. He has a vision of the prime Paramount asset reaching people who are more centrist
Cooper privately told colleagues he does not want to work for Weiss, according to a report from The New York Times published last week about CNN parent Warner’s looming merger with Paramount.
Weiss, meanwhile, responded to claims of editorial interference and bias for the first time in a statement to The Wall Street Journal last week.
‘What’s being called “editorial interference” is in reality the job description of an editor in chief,’ she said.
However, veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker – one of three remaining after Weiss’s cull – disagrees.
He has told others in recent weeks that he is frustrated with the current arrangement. He, Lesley Stahl, and L. Jon Wertheim all announced on June 5 that they were staying with the newsmagazine.
The Daily Mail has approached CBS News for comment.
