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Newly minted “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton is hoping to tamp down the leaks to the press about newsroom drama, much of which he insists are false.
“Since I started here there has been roughly a rumor a day. About me, about you, about what’s coming next — 95 percent of them are fabrications and blatantly incorrect,” Bilton wrote Monday in a staff memo obtained by Fox News Digital. “I no longer have the time or the patience for them, and I’d rather we spend that energy on the stories.”
“If you hear something and it matters to you, come ask me and I’ll tell you what I know. Otherwise, I’d like this place to be talked about for what we put on television,” he added.
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Newly minted “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton is hoping to tamp down leaked “rumors” about his program following the dramatic staffing shake-up in May. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for WHC Insider and Spotify; Jai Lennard/CBS News©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Bilton spent much of the memo, which was first reported by Status News, going over “housekeeping notes” ahead of the show’s 59th season set to air next month, including where his new office is, planned lunches in the coming weeks and the roll-out of a digital version of the “60 Minutes” story board.
“The story board has been replaced with a digital version that updates in real time with what correspondents, producers and editors are working on. There is no reason in 2026 we should be tracking the #1 show in news using a dry erase marker,” Bilton told staff.
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“60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
He also addressed questions staffers have asked him about working in the office, writing, “I firmly believe we’re all grownups and I’m not going to take attendance. You’re reporting, you’re shooting, you’re traveling. But this show has never been made by people working alone at desks in different zip codes. When you’re not in the field, I’d appreciate it if you can be in the office.”
CBS News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Bilton was handpicked by CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss to lead “60 Minutes” as part of a major overhaul of the longtime magazine program.
As he was being hired, his predecessor, Tanya Simon, and “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were fired.
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“60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega as well as “60 Minutes executive producer Tanya Simon were fired as part of a major overhaul of the CBS News program. (Michele Crowe/CBS News©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved)
Veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley was also ousted after he lashed out at Bilton and Weiss during Bilton’s first meeting with the show’s staff.
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Last week, Bilton announced that New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and CBS News veteran Norah O’Donnell would join as “60 Minutes” correspondents in addition to a slew of contributors including journalist and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger, former Vice News correspondent Gianna Toboni, who was previously tapped by CBS News as a national correspondent, and former Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips, whom CBS News recently hired as its senior global affairs correspondent.
