Anderson Cooper will leave “60 Minutes” after its current season ends, TheWrap has learned, ending a nearly 20-year run with the CBS News newsmagazine as Bari Weiss remakes the Tiffany Network.
Cooper told CBS News in recent weeks that he would not renew his contract for the fall season, according to a person familiar with the matter.
CBS News did not respond to a request for comment. Breaker Media first reported Cooper’s decision to leave.
“Being a correspondent at ’60 Minutes’ has been one of the great honors of my career,” Cooper, who is also an anchor at CNN, said in a statement. “I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors and camera crews in the business. For nearly twenty years, I’ve been able to balance my jobs at CNN and CBS, but I have little kids now and I want to spend as much time with them as possible, while they still want to spend time with me.”
Cooper will continue to have segments air through the show’s 58th season, but he will not return for its 59th season premiere this fall. Some of Cooper’s recent segments included a feature on documentarian Ken Burns, the prediction market Polymarket and on the bedrooms of children killed in school shootings.
Cooper renewed his CNN contract late last year, ending speculation that he would anchor CBS News’ “Evening News” after Weiss reportedly expressed her interest in hiring him. “CBS Mornings” anchor Tony Dokoupil eventually ascended to the anchor chair, and his tenure has prompted a flurry of criticism.
The decision to leave “60 Minutes” comes after Weiss, who joined the network in October, has gone to great lengths to imprint her vision on its stable of programs, including “60 Minutes.” She drew national outrage in December after she pulled a Sharyn Alfonsi-led report, “Inside CECOT,” focusing on conditions inside an El Salvadorian prison, hours before it was set to air. Weiss claimed the piece did not advance the story beyond other reports, though Alfonsi accused her of making a “political” decision as Paramount sought federal approval to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery.
The decision came after the piece was screened for the network’s legal and standards teams, rankling the show’s staff. The segment eventually aired last month, and Weiss acknowledged during an all-hands meeting with staff that her interjection came too late in the process.
Status also reported that a Cooper-led segment on the Trump administration’s decision to accept refugees from South Africa had generated an unusual amount of editorial scrutiny. While executive producer Tanya Simon screened the piece and provided some feedback, Weiss’ screening came with extensive editorial feedback.
CBS News could soon face another round of exits as it reportedly prepares a new round of layoffs, which could affect up to 15% of its staff. It also saw at least 11 staffers take voluntary buyouts to leave “Evening News.”
