Anderson Cooper is leaving “60 Minutes” after nearly two decades on the long-running CBS News program.
Cooper, who is a primetime anchor on CNN, will reportedly keep all of his focus on the full-time cable gig going forward. Cooper joined “60 Minutes” as a rotating correspondent in 2007.
The exit was first reported by Breaker Media.
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According to the report, Cooper told the network weeks ago that he was declining the renewal offer being made to him.
“Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the great honors of my career,” Cooper said in a statement to The Wrap. “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.”
CBS News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital‘s request for comment.
Cooper’s exit comes weeks after his “60 Minutes” colleague Sharyn Alfonsi clashed with their new boss, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, over a report that Weiss deemed wasn’t ready for air.
In December, Weiss pulled Alfonsi’s segment on the Center for Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) shortly before it was set to air. Alfonsi defiantly told colleagues she believed it was a political decision while Weiss sought to include voices from the Trump administration.
The segment ultimately aired in January, but Weiss and CBS News faced tense blowback from liberal critics.
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