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By Gabe Whisnant
News Editor
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Anderson Cooper will leave CBS News’ 60 Minutes after nearly two decades, marking the latest staffing change at the long‑running news magazine amid broader newsroom upheaval.
Cooper has been a correspondent on the news program since the 2006‑07 season under an agreement between CBS News and CNN, according to his biography on the CBS News website. Cooper joined CNN in 2001 and has covered major events including the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. He remains a full‑time anchor at the cable news network.
In a statement to news outlets, Cooper said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
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“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. “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.”
His recent reporting for the program included stories on people experiencing lingering effects from COVID‑19 and the discovery of a shipwreck near Mobile, Alabama, believed to be the last vessel to have carried enslaved people to the United States.
"For more than two decades, Anderson Cooper has taken 60 Minutes viewers on journeys to faraway places, told us unforgettable stories, reported consequential investigations and interviewed many prominent figures. We're grateful to him for dedicating so much of his life to this broadcast, and understand the importance of spending more time with family. 60 Minutes will be here if he ever wants to return," CBS News said in a statement to media outlets on Monday evening.
Newsweek has reached out to CBS News via email on Monday night for comment.
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Anderson Cooper's Family: What to Know
Cooper is the father of two sons, Wyatt Morgan Cooper, 5, and Sebastian Luke Maisani‑Cooper, 4, whom he is raising with his former partner, Benjamin Maisani.
Cooper is the son of writer Wyatt Emory Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt, a fashion designer, artist and heiress to the prominent Vanderbilt family. His father died in 1978 when Cooper was 10, and his older brother, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper, died in 1988.
CBS News Upheaval, Controversy
Cooper’s departure comes amid significant changes at CBS News where the network has undergone leadership turnover, staffing reductions and editorial restructuring in recent months. The overhaul follows Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media and the appointment of Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief, with the company weighing layoffs, buyouts and new programming strategies as it seeks to reshape its news division for streaming and digital audiences.
The long‑running 60 Minutes has been at the center of the upheaval, with reported internal tensions, high‑profile editorial disputes and staff departures highlighting the challenges facing the storied broadcast news operation.
Updates: 2/16/26, 8:57 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information.
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