Scott left the room with the impression that he would be fired in a matter of minutes, sources close to him said. Instead, Bari and the team stayed in the office for another four hours chewing on Joe’s Pizza and deliberating with legal counsel, press relations, and Paramount executives, including owner David Ellison and TV chairman George Cheeks, about how to handle his termination—and, as importantly, what the messaging should be. In their view, Scott’s main objective had been to cast himself as a martyr fighting against the destruction of America’s most celebrated TV news brand. A bland, diplomatic statement about his resignation might have de-escalated the situation, according to the collective wisdom of this crowd, but it also would have meant ceding the narrative.

Instead, Bari and her team responded emotionally, and with force—essentially reciprocating Pelley’s middle finger with a fuck-you burger and eat-shit fries Happy Meal of their own. In a letter to Scott, Nick accused the veteran newsman of an “ambush.” Scott, Nick said, had refused overtures and an invitation to dinner, opting instead to “hijack” the Monday meeting in a “performative display of hostility.” Far from acting as 60 Minutes’ savior, Nick cast Scott as its enemy. “Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” Nick said. “I therefore write on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately.” Soon after, the letter found its way to me, the Times, et al., and every corner of the social media discourse.

The response predictably broke along party lines. Scott was lionized by many fellow journalists and the progressive crowd, most of whom saw his plight as the latest evidence of a broader, Trump-coded desecration of the American news media. Scott played up this theme by alleging that management had “instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story,” and to “include assertions that are unverified.” Meanwhile, a chorus of X-happy conservatives mocked his theatrics, championed Bari for taking a scalp, and celebrated the network’s long overdue course correction. In the X era, such responses are entirely bankable.

Inside the building, however, the problems metastasized. At the network level, Bari and Nick are still waiting to see whether 60 correspondents Bill Whitaker and Lesley Stahl will follow Scott to the exit. As of Wednesday night, neither has made a decision, I’m told. But on the heels of Anderson Cooper’s departure last month and the firings of Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega last week, their resignations would leave 60 with just one full-time correspondent, Jon Wertheim, who is merely the sports guy anyway. In the meantime, Bari and Nick have been scrambling to identify new talent to bring on board in order to start preparing the show for its earlier-than-usual debut on September 13, which is just 100 days away. Needless to say, this week’s events have complicated the recruitment effort. “Who would want to go work for 60 Minutes right now?” asked one talent agent who has received overtures from the network.

Meanwhile, at the Paramount level, the Pelley drama has amplified preexisting concerns over Bari’s ability to handle the full demands of her job at CBS News, let alone a similar post-acquisition assignment at CNN. In eight months, she has presided over a string of high-profile controversies and unfortunate but enduring humiliations while failing to lift ratings—especially at Evening News, which remains mired below 4 million viewers. Meanwhile, her own struggles have been fodder for an unending deluge of negative press.

Last month, I reported that Paramount brass had held informal discussions about bringing in a seasoned executive who could manage the operations side of the combined CBS News and CNN business, leaving Bari to focus on a cross-platform editorial mandate. Ostensibly, this is similar to the role that Cibrowski has at CBS News, though Paramount leadership does not see him as a viable candidate for the expanded remit. Perhaps the current shitshow at CBS News supports that thesis; on the other hand, one has to wonder how much worse this might have gotten if Tom weren’t in the building.

In any event, these discussions are ongoing, and David and his team still believe that Bari will need the additional support of this as-yet-unnamed executive. In the past, Bari has expressed interest in bringing former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim into the fold. David himself recently met with Noah, I’m told, spurring a rumor among some insiders that he was in line for the position. Sources said the two mainly discussed film and television deals between Paramount and Prologue, Noah’s independent production studio and a portfolio company at Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird—which, in turn, is a partner in David’s Paramount investment. (RedBird is also an investor in Puck.) As I’ve reported before, sources have also floated former CBS News president David Rhodes and current CNN C.E.O. Mark Thompson as a fit for the role. A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment.

While the Paramount brass deliberates over her future, Bari has been trying to improve her own press. To date, her public relations have been handled by a motley crew of comms professionals, including her recently appointed comms chief Jeremy Adler and three separate outside contractors—Ali Zelenko, Heather Riley, and Matthew Hiltzik—to say nothing of the comms chiefs above them at CBS and Paramount. That’s a lot of cooks in one kitchen. Nevertheless, in recent weeks, I’m told, Bari also enlisted Nik Deogun, the Brunswick executive who handled Bob Chapek’s ill-fated tour through Disney, to provide additional help for Nick as he takes the helm at 60 Minutes. (Nik had already been working with Paramount on the WBD merger, but I’m told that Bari made the decision to bring him in at CBS News.) Alas, as many inside the building told me this week—and as you’ve probably surmised by now—Bari’s problems aren’t a communications issue.