Anderson Cooper leaving 60 Minutes programme after nearly two decades in latest CBS News shakeup
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Anderson Cooper is the latest high-profile journalist to cut ties with CBS News since the arrival of Bari Weiss as the network’ new editor-in-chief in October 2025.
PHOTO: ANDERSON COOPER 360/FACEBOOK
LOS ANGELES - Anderson Cooper is leaving CBS News’ 60 Minutes programme after nearly two decades, in the latest staffing shake-up to hit the storied news magazine and network.
Cooper has been a 60 Minutes correspondent through a deal between Paramount Skydance-owned CBS News and Warner Bros Discovery’s CNN since the 2006-2007 season, according to his page on the CBS News website.
“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,” Cooper said in a statement on Feb 16.
Cooper is the latest high-profile journalist to cut ties with CBS News since the arrival of Ms Bari Weiss as the network’s new editor-in-chief in October 2025 following Paramount Skydance’s purchase of her outlet The Free Press.
Ms Weiss unveiled her strategy in January, saying she would add 19 new contributors and focus on bringing a “streaming mentality” to the network, which has consistently trailed in ratings to rivals ABC and NBC.
She is trying to revive the third-placed broadcast news network, which has been losing viewers in the age of social media and online information.
Ms Weiss had expressed interest in bringing Cooper to CBS News on a full-time basis, including the possibility of him anchoring the CBS Evening News programme, according to a Puck news report.
Paramount Skydance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Since the launch of CNN’s prime-time television news programme Anderson Cooper 360, Cooper has covered major global news events, ranging from US presidential inaugurations and political conventions to the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting.
He joined CNN in 2001 and has reported on the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Cooper signed a new contract with CNN in 2025.
The Breaker newsletter first reported Cooper’s departure from 60 Minutes. REUTERS
