By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-24 21:30:45 | Updated at 2026-07-28 14:21:29
3 days ago
Former 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega says she is still confused as to why CBS News fired her this past spring and that she was repeatedly instructed to report on incidents that 'never happened.'
Vega, 49, made the allegation to ABC News' John Quiñones at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference & Expo in New Orleans on Thursday, according to Status.
The remarks were the reporter's first on the matter since a pair of statements in May that alleged she was a victim of political censorship. She also claimed that brass led 'efforts to insert political bias into' her stories.
Several purported examples of interference followed.
Vega first said she was encouraged by the 'new administration at CBS News' to include footage of Minneapolis protesters attacking regular citizens whom they mistook for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents dressed in plain clothes in January.
She maintained 'no credible examples' of such an incident existed, despite evidence that suggests otherwise.
An encounter that took place near 38th Street and Grand Avenue South in early January and filmed by Minnesota outlet Alpha News matches the description in Vega's directive closely.
The footage shows a group of software engineers who were eventually interviewed by the outlet, being approached by an aggressive anti-ICE mob and grilled to the point where one of the men thought they were about to 'get shot,' one said.
Former 60 Minutes Correspondent Cecilia Vega - who was fired as part of a major cull in May - addressed her exit during a discussion with ABC News' John Quiñones at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference & Expo in New Orleans on Thursday
'I don't know why I was fired,' Vega, 49, said, before continuing to accuse her old network of injecting political bias into her stories. She offered purported examples
The tech workers were not physically attacked but surrounded and menaced.
Vega also claimed that she was asked to include a moment from a January 14 press conference for the same segment, in which the city’s mayor, Jacob Frey, supposedly said he wanted local police to fight ICE agents in the streets.
Vega also detailed how the instruction referenced the city’s police chief, who was said to have rolled his eyes after the mayor's comment.
'That never happened,' Vega told Quiñones on Thursday. She claimed her team scrubbed every frame of video from the address but 'could not find any instance of the mayor saying something like that.'
However, Mayor Frey did make a declaration starkly similar to the one Vega flouted.
While making a case for Operation Metro Surge to end, Frey told reporters: 'We’re in a position right now where we have residents that are asking police officers to fight ICE agents on the street, to stand by their "neighbors."'
The proclamation, notably attributed to locals and not himself, was made just five days before Vega's segment went to air.
Behind Frey, then-Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara looked noticeably stunned by the mayor's words.
Vega also called out CBS management for supposedly telling her to introduce a story about the war in Iran by asking – and answering – 'Who is winning the war? Iran is totally outgunned by the United States and Israel.'
Vega dismissed the directive as an 'administration talking point' on Thursday – a statement a CBS source fiercely pushed back against on Friday in remarks to the Daily Mail.
'Just last week, we did a big Evening News segment with Aaron MacLean and Tony Dokoupil that outlined how the Administration’s leadership of the war has encountered many problems,' the source said.
'Also, “Iran is totally outgunned by the United States and Israel" does not seem like an Administration talking point. It seems like a fact when looking at munition levels and more.'
The source ultimately saw Vega's propaganda claim as 'foolish.'
Vega bragged to her audience how none of 'those examples' of supposed outside influence made it into her final cuts. A round of uproarious applause followed.
She also claimed to be 'scared to be talking' about the situation at all but felt obligated since 'there is a lot at stake.'
'[Things] started to change when new people started showing up in the screenings and giving their feedback on pieces,' Vega said, per Status.
The journalist then harked back to a time where 60 Minutes, in her eyes, was an 'island' with a 'moat of protection around it.'
Former Executive Producer Tanya Simon, seen here with Vega (middle) and also-fired Sharyn Alfonsi (far left), was also fired as showrunners attempt to rejig the newsmagazine for a more modern audience
Such autonomy was lost when then-new Paramount boss David Ellison brought on Bari Weiss to be the network's new editor-in-chief last October, Vega reportedly said.
Almost immediately, Vega felt unpopular with the new guard, Vega said, according to Status, which cited a recording of Thursday's interview.
She recalled a 'real tension... that made [her] nervous' during her segment screenings and 'a sense' that her higher-ups 'were not liking' a lot of the 'back-and-forth' surrounding some.
'I don't know why I was fired... It's been about three months now.... and I don't know. I was not given a reason. I still have not been given a reason,' Vega reportedly said, insisting that the 'stitches' left behind were still fresh.
CBS News has already responded to Vega’s claims, maintaining in a May statement mere hours after Vega spoke to the Times that they were 'not based in reality.'
In a profile about the network's ongoing overhaul late last month, Weiss bluntly told the Wall Street Journal: 'What's being called "editorial interference" is in reality the job description of an editor-in-chief.'
The Daily Mail approached both CBS News and Paramount for comment.
A slew of firings hit 60 Minutes, at Weiss's behest, on May 28. Vega, Sharyn Alfonsi, Executive Producer Tanya Simon and Executive Editor Draggan Mihailovich were among many shown the door.
Bari Weiss, 42, told The Wall Street Journal last month, responding to Vega's allegations: 'What's being called 'editorial interference' is in reality the job description of an editor in chief'
Weiss was personally appointed by Paramount CEO David Ellison. He has a vision of the prime Paramount asset reaching people who are more centrist
Filmmaker and former New York Times columnist Nick Bilton was brought on to be the show's next executive producer.
Longtime correspondent Scott Pelley was fired following a blow-up with Bilton on the latter's first day. He accused a not-present Weiss of 'murdering 60 Minutes' while billing Bilton as her flunky.
Weiss homed in on 60 Minutes after seeing the show as 'calcified and resistant to change' during her first months as editor-in-chief, sources told CNN in late May.
A former executive expressed similar sentiments to the Daily Mail last month, while acknowledging the arrangement.
'Was [Pelley] standing up for what he believed in? He was. But it's what he believes is the problem. It started well before Bari Weiss. And they don't get it. It's hubris. Arrogance,' the source said.
'For him to go out of his way to go public and embarrass and try to force the issue with Bari... I've had some bad bosses, I believe in standing up for journalistic principles. But I think he crossed the line.'
