Toxic 'Snake Pit': '60 Minutes' Star Steve Kroft Reveals Shocking Details About Working on the Show

In a recent interview with Bill O'Reilly on his "We'll Do it Live!" podcast, retired CBS News correspondent Steve Kroft described the 60 Minutes newsroom as a "snake pit."

The 80-year-old veteran journalist, who spent 30 years at the program before retiring in 2019, explicitly stated, "I hated it," and confessed that if given the choice again, he probably would not take the job.

“No, I probably wouldn’t do it again … I hated it,” he admitted.

He remarked that "there was no civility at 60 Minutes" and warned that if someone was being friendly, "you better check your wallet," suggesting such behavior always came with ulterior motives.

He described an environment where journalists were so paranoid they believed someone was always behind them, waiting to "put a shiv in their back.”

Kroft noted that being hired for the prestigious role immediately created enemies out of those who wanted the job themselves.

“You realize, after a while, that not everybody was happy that I got this job. There were other people that wanted it,” Kroft said. “And so then you’ve all of a sudden made a bunch of enemies. And that’s, it’s just, you know, it is a snake pit.”

He described the work as a "24 hours a day" sleep-depriving slog involving constant travel, editing and screenings.

“The job is just 24 hours a day. I mean, you may get a couple of hours of bad sleep,” Kroft said.

Kroft also recalled a prophetic warning from former CBS anchor Dan Rather, who told him the newsroom was full of "big cats" capable of taking a colleague down with a single swipe, leaving them "limping for six months.”

Despite the show's prestige, Kroft concluded that the cutthroat atmosphere and constant hostility made the experience deeply unpleasant.

When asked if he had seen the current incarnation of the venerable news magazine since CBS had been overhauled by MAGA-leaning Bari Weiss, with the former Fox News star O’Reilly admitting it’s “surely you know it isn’t what it used to be,” Kroft agreed.

“Yeah, I don’t know what it is,” he said.

Kroft was also asked about his opinion on President Donald Trump.

Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million in July 2025 to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump regarding a 2024 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The suit alleged "deceptive editing" of the interview, which Trump claimed amounted to voter deception and election interference. The settlement funds will allegedly go toward a presidential library, and no apology was issued.

“I think that Trump’s problems are deeper than Iran and the war. And I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that he thinks he can do anything he wants,” Kroft said, pointing to his former network’s MAGA makeover.

“I think my big problem with Trump, it feels to me, and this is 60 Minutes and CBS, I kind of feel like we’re in federal receivership and the trustees of this receivership are Trump, (Paramount Skydance CEO David) Ellison, and Bari Weiss, and they have said quite openly that they think that they need to adjust,” he noted.