The executive producer of 60 Minutes begged his staff to stop leaking word of turmoil on his watch—only for them to go ahead and leak that message to another outlet anyway. Weiss has purged 60 Minutes of veteran producers and correspondents. Staff, and in particular the team at 60 Minutes, roiled and bucked at her changes, with long-time host Anderson Cooper leaving the show. She responded by purging the program of veteran journalists like executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, senior producer Matthew Polevoy, and correspondent Cecilia Vega. Bilton, hired just days later to replace Simon, then fired 60 Minutes mainstay Scott Pelley after Pelley told him in front of the team that Weiss had been “murdering” the program.