For nearly 20 years, Anderson Cooper has had a rare double billing in the TV industry: anchor on CNN and correspondent for “60 Minutes,” the celebrated newsmagazine on CBS.
Now, he’s back to being a solo act.
On Monday evening, Mr. Cooper said that he was leaving “60 Minutes” to spend more time with his two young sons “while they still want to spend time with me.”
“Being a correspondent at ‘60 Minutes’ has been one of the great honors of my career,” Mr. Cooper said. “I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors and camera crews in the business.”
After juggling his jobs at CNN and CBS with the demands of raising two boys, Mr. Cooper said, he wanted “to spend as much time with them as possible.”
Mr. Cooper’s departure will be a blow for “60 Minutes,” where he has been a contributor since 2006. Over the years, Mr. Cooper, 58, has become one of the program’s most recognizable journalists, winning Emmy Awards for his coverage of sexual assault in the Democratic Republic of Congo and for a story about an unlikely group of Grammy-nominated musicians in Malawi’s Zomba Prison.
“60 Minutes” has come under scrutiny recently stemming from tensions between its on-air correspondents and Bari Weiss, the recently appointed editor in chief of CBS News. The program itself became a story late last year after Ms. Weiss made a last-minute decision to hold a segment about a prison in El Salvador over the objections of Sharyn Alfonsi, the veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent who covered the story. Ms. Weiss said the piece needed more reporting; Ms. Alfonsi said the decision was motivated by politics.
The story eventually ran, weeks after its initially scheduled air date, with minimal changes: CBS News added two short segments, at the beginning and the end of the report, that included new comments from the Trump administration and details about the men who were sent to the prison, addressing some of Ms. Weiss’s concerns. Ms. Weiss later said in a town-hall meeting with employees in January that she had no desire to repeat “that specific logistical nightmare” ever again.
In recent years, Mr. Cooper’s career has encompassed much more than TV news. He has written several books, most recently a historical biography chronicling the gilded American Astor family. He also hosts a podcast about grief and bereavement, “All There Is,” where he explores loss with his guests.
Mr. Cooper’s departure was earlier reported by Breaker, an email newsletter.
Benjamin Mullin reports for The Times on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at [email protected].
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