Steve Kroft, the retired 60 Minutes correspondent, tore into the program during a recent interview with Bill O'Reilly.
The 30-year veteran of CBS's most renowned investigative news show, who retired in 2019, decried its workplace culture as a 'snake pit' and said he 'hated it.'
Kroft made his comments on the latest episode of O'Reilly's podcast, We'll Do It Live!, which was published on Thursday. He recounted long hours and an unhealthy level of competition between journalists that fueled paranoia over fears of backstabbing.
Early into the interview, O'Reilly described the leadership at 60 Minutes as 'tough boys,' before adding, 'I'd say they were savages - mini savages.'
Kroft agreed and told a story about when he first found out he was going to join the program. He remembered Dan Rather, another veteran CBS reporter and 60 Minutes correspondent, saying: 'Let me tell you, there's some big cats over there.'
'Take one swat with a paw, and you're gonna be limping for six months.'
O'Reilly replied: 'And it's true. I mean, there was no civility at 60 Minutes. It was like, you're an idiot.'
'If there was civility, you'd better check your wallet,' Kroft said, referring to brutal competition behind the scenes for airtime and getting stories published.
Kroft described the 60 Minutes workplace as a 'snake pit' and said that he 'hated it.'
Kroft said there was drama in the newsroom from day one and that simply joining the program meant making enemies.
Later in the interview, the retired correspondent said that working on the show was a '24 hours a day' gig that required nonstop travel, writing and editing.
'You may get a couple hours... then getting on jets... coming back and spending three or four days writing...then starting it all over again,' Kroft said.
The drama in the newsroom began on day one, Kroft added, recounting that 'not everybody was happy' when he joined the team and that 'you've all of a sudden made a bunch of enemies.'
'It's just...a snake pit,' he summarized.
Kroft used visceral imagery to describe what it felt like working on 60 Minutes and said it felt like someone was lurking behind people, ready 'to put a shiv in their back.'
During the podcast, various other topics were discussed, including Kroft's high-profile interview of the Clintons during the 1992 presidential race and a perceived leftward shift in legacy media over the past several decades.
Kroft described his career-defining interview with the Clintons, during which he asked about Bill Clinton's suspected affair with Gennifer Flowers.
Hillary Clinton criticized the reporter's 'mean questions,' which sparked public backlash against 60 Minutes leadership.
That moment echoes recent criticisms of the show, which some, including O'Reilly, believe has shifted too far left on the political spectrum.
During the interview, Kroft also discussed his career-defining interview with the Clintons, during which he asked about Bill Clinton's suspected affair with Gennifer Flowers
The interview also went over a perceived leftward shift in legacy media over the past few decades, which O'Reilly (pictured) believes to be true
O'Reilly fielded Kroft's opinion by discussing Walter Cronkite's influence on CBS News, saying that he 'tilted it to the left.'
'Since that time,' O'Reilly added, 'because CBS was the leader, the news leader on television, they've all gone fairly left. Would I be wrong?'
'I don't think you're probably wrong in terms of perception,' Kroft replied.'In terms of reality,I don't know.Some of it has to do,I've always thought,with geography and the fact that so many people in media were...mostly East Coast people.'
Although Kroft seemed less confident that legacy media has truly shifted left,CBS's parent company,Skydance Paramount,seems to think that has been the case.
The parent company recently installed Bari Weiss as the new editor-in-chief of CBS in an attempt to address that concern.
In the six months since Weiss entered the role,she has made significant changes and taken bold actions,such as hiring nearly 20 new contributors with existing social media followings,in an attempt to increase the network's relevancy.
And she has major changes for 60 Minutes in the works,planning a restructuring of the show and potential layoffs of its top producers and contributors,according to a recent scoop by the New York Post.
'Bari wants to make the show harder,' a source with knowledge of the show told the outlet.'No one is talking about '60 Minutes' on Monday morning.'
'She wants to put her stamp on 60 Minutes,and how you do that is you either get rid of the top producer or the top correspondent,' the source added.