Anderson Cooper has not renewed his contract with CBS, in a shocking decision that comes almost 20 years after the journalist first joined the legacy network. The 60 Minutes correspondent shared the news in a statement, revealing that he wanted to focus on raising his young sons, Wyatt, five, and Sebastian, four.
“Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the great honors of my career. I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors, and camera crews in the business,” he said in the statement.
“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.”
The 57-year-old shares his sons with his ex-partner, nightclub owner Benjamin Maisani. They went their separate ways in 2018, yet agreed to welcome their children together and co-parent as friends.
Anderson previously shared insight into their daily routine with the boys and how they worked around their differing schedules.
“I work nights, and so he’s there at night,” Anderson told People. “And we both wake up right before they wake up, get them their milk and spend the first couple of hours of the day just us with them. And Benjamin speaks French to them. I have no idea what they’re saying. I think they’re plotting against me.”
© Getty Images for CNNAnderson will continue to work with CNN, the network that he joined in 2001, and will continue to host the annual New Year’s Eve broadcast alongside his friend, Andy Cohen. He renewed his contract with CNN in December 2025, and his show, Anderson Cooper 360°, will remain on our screens.
Learn more about the recent shakeup at CBS below…
Anderson’s move away from CBS comes after the network’s parent company, Paramount Skydance, acquired The Free Press, a conservative news and opinion site run by Bari Weiss.
She was appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News in October, and has since made several unpopular moves, including the decision to pull a 60 Minutes segment about migrants being deported under Donald Trump’s presidency just hours before it was set to air.
© InstagramThe segment went to air several weeks later instead, this time with a comment from Trump’s camp. “We’re for the center. We’re for the center-right, and we’re for the center-left,” she said during a presentation to CBS employees, as per the Daily Mail.
© Getty Images for The Free Press“The honest truth is right now we are not producing a product that enough people want,” she continued. “I am here to make CBS News fit for purpose in the 21st century.”
“It’s a free country, and I completely respect if you decide I’m not the right leader for you or this isn’t the right place at the right time, there’s just too many exciting things to be spending your career doing,” she added.
Read the full article here
