Diva 60 Minutes star Lesley Stahl, 84, threatened to quit show after boss got involved in editing story about Israeli settlers in West Bank, report claims

Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl reportedly told colleagues she was considering quitting the program after a round of edits to her most recent segment by CBS News boss Bari Weiss and other top staff. Stahl, 84, became 'frustrated' with what a source described as 'very hands-on' editing from Weiss and her deputy, CBS News Managing Editor Charles Forelle, in remarks to Status Monday. The finished piece aired Sunday – part of the first full 60 Minutes season under Weiss and since the slew of changes she made to the show in June.

The fourth installment featured Stahl and a probe into the violence Palestinians have faced from extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Weiss, 42, and Forelle began participating in screenings late last week, Status reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A source told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that the first screening of the segment aired Thursday. Weiss – an Israel supporter – reportedly objected to some aspects of the piece, though the qualms were not specified.

Forelle – hired by Weiss from the Wall Street Journal last year – suggested tabling the story for a later date as the deadline approached, sources said. Stahl, however, reportedly objected, contending that the issues should be settled then and there. Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl reportedly told colleagues she was considering quitting the program last week, after receiving edits to her Sunday segment about at-times violent Israeli settlers trying to overtake the West Bank Stahl, 84, became 'frustrated' with what a source described as a 'very hands-on' editing from Weiss and her deputy, CBS News Managing Editor Charles Forelle (not pictured).

Weiss is seen here last month with German media exec Mathias Döpfner and Peter Thiel in Berlin 'They didn’t know if it was going to air because the screenings got so heated,' one source told the outlet. A 60 Minutes spokesperson, however, pushed back in a statement to the Daily Mail. 'This is a ludicrous, twisted narrative,' the spokesperson said Tuesday morning. 'All 60 Minutes pieces go through a famously rigorous editorial process - which includes edits from editors.

This piece received far fewer edits than most.' The source who spoke with the Mail expressed similar sentiments. 'Things have changed at 60 Minutes. It was previously siloed off from CBS. That's not the case anymore,' they said, referring to edits from CBS staffers that 60 Minutes mainstays like Stahl may not be used to. After Scott Pelley's sensational exit from the program in June, a former CBS News executive told the Mail that 'arrogance' has 'pervaded' CBS for years, particularly within 60 Minutes.

That executive, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the newsmagazine is known for an 'unwillingness to change' and an overall sense of 'infallibility.' They noted how 60 Minutes is based in a separate New York City office from the rest of the CBS News team, with the 'air of secrecy' surrounding their work turning many at the network against them. Stahl's issues and the direction that reportedly angered her remain unknown. The finished product offered a look at violent Israeli settlers who use sheep farms and other strategies to take over West Bank land.

Stahl has been a 60 Minutes correspondent for 35 years Later that week, Stahl and fellow veterans Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim aired their intent to stay with the newsmagazine, after Anderson Cooper refused to do so in May. A source told the Mail that Cooper made the move because of the new leadership. 'Newsrooms are not supposed to be run like dictatorships. Collaboration and argument are the way we have always worked at 60,' part of the statement from Stahl, Whitaker and Wertheim read.

Pelley accused Weiss and the man she tapped to head 60 Minutes, former New York Times columnist Nick Bilton, of 'murdering' 60 Minutes on his way out. Stahl's issues and the direction that reportedly angered her, for now, remain unknown. The finished product of her report offered a look at violent Israeli settlers who use sheep farms and other forms of encroachment to take over West Bank land. Stahl also covered the clashes with Palestinians and Israeli peace activists that have occurred as a result.