In what in the Bari Weiss era is no longer a particularly surprising move, Anderson Cooper has announced he is leaving 60 Minutes.
The veteran journalist joined the CBS news program as a correspondent in 2006, and announced this week that he would be departing the network, which has entered a shaky new era under the leadership of the Donald Trump ally and Paramount Skydance owner David Ellison editor-in-chief appointee, formerly of The Free Press.
In an announcement on Monday evening, the longtime CNN anchor, who hosts 360 for the network, shared: “Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the great honors of my career,” adding: “I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors and camera crews in the business.”
Anderson noted that he was leaving 60 Minutes with hopes of spending more time with his two sons, Wyatt, five, and Sebastian, four, who he shares with ex Benjamin Maisani, and focusing on his work with CNN.
CBS’ new chapter under Bari — who has no prior broadcast experience and who scored her new gig when Paramount Skydance’s CEO bought her four-year-old platform The Free Press for $150 million — has become a never-ending hot topic in the new year.
The first few months have been filled with shake-ups and scandals, from Tony Dokoupil’s blunder-riddled CBS Evening News debut, the temporary yanking of Sharyn Alfonsi’s 60 Minutes piece on CECOT, which made its way online despite the network initially axing it, and the exits of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, former anchors of CBS Evening News.
© Getty ImagesWithout Anderson, 60 Minutes is down to six correspondents: Sharyn, Scott Pelley, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Jon Wertheim, and Cecilia Vega.
Here is what some members of the media are saying.
Brian Stelter
CNN’s chief media analyst wrote in his “Reliable Sources” newsletter Tuesday that reportedly, at least one other 60 Minutes correspondent is on the way out. He noted despite the niceties between Anderson and CBS, the network’s staffers “recognized that Cooper was uneasy with the Bari Weiss-led overhaul of CBS News.”
“Which other correspondents are going to leave, and on what terms? Weiss wanted Cooper to stay, but she reportedly wants others to go,” he added.
© Getty ImagesOliver Darcy
The former CNN journalist, in his Status News newsletter, quoted an insider saying Anderson “wasn’t comfortable with the direction the show was taking under Bari, and is in a position where he doesn’t have to put up with it,” remarking on CBS’ new MAGA-friendly approach.
Sharyn Alfonsi
Sharyn, who rightfully did not mince her words when Bari pushed back the release of her piece on CECOT, the controversial maximum security prison in El Salvador benefiting Trump’s mass deportation tactics, has not spoken out about her colleagues departure, however Brian also reported in his newsletter that her contract expires in just a few months, paving the way for another possible exit from 60 Minutes.
© Getty ImagesBrian Lowry
The longtime media columnist and current Hollywood correspondent at Status News wrote things more bluntly on Twitter (X): “Have worked around Hollywood long enough to know nobody ever really leaves a job to spend more time with their family.”
Keith Olbermann
The sports broadcaster shared on Bluesky: “Anderson Cooper has left the sinking ship that is Idiot Bari Weiss’s New Stormfront CBS,” adding: “Now, people will only be able to NOT watch AC on cnn.”
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