Anderson Cooper Announces Exit From ‘60 Minutes’ After Nearly 20 Years
Anderson Cooper's 60 Minutes clock has run out.
The news anchor appeared in his final episode of the long-running CBS newsmagazine after 20 years as a correspondent.
After Cooper featured in a report about London cabs and self-driving cars on 60 Minutes' May 17 season 58 finale, CBS News released an extended sit-down interview with him online which ended with him getting emotional as he delivered his final "I'm Anderson Cooper" sign-off.
The 58-year-old looked down and took a minute to compose himself before saying the line three times as his voice cracked. He then walked off set as the crew clapped for him.
Earlier in the segment, he'd explained that handling his 60 Minutes responsibilities with his main gig hosting Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN had simply become too much to balance.
"The whole time I've done pieces for 60 Minutes, my full-time job has been over at CNN and still is," Cooper explained. "And it's been really challenging to do the kind of work you need to do to have a great 60 Minutes piece."
"CNN doesn't like it if I take a lot of time off to work on a 60 Minutes piece," he went on, "so I've worked mostly for 60 Minutes on weekends. My vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces. And I've loved it, but it's been tough."
Most importantly, juggling both jobs simply left too little time for Cooper—who joined the show in 2006—to focus on raising his sons Wyatt, 6, and Sebastian, 4, who he coparents with ex Benjamin Maisani.
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"I've got a 4-year-old and a just now 6-year-old, and I want to spend as much time with them as I can while they still want to spend time with me," Cooper said. "And those days, that clock is ticking, I think."
He added, "I hope 60 Minutes is around for when my kids grow up and have kids of their own, and they can watch it with their kids."
Keep reading for more major stars who have left their shows...
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And landing on the show ultimately served as a full-circle moment for Cooper.
"I was a weird little kid. I liked watching news. After my dad died, there was a lot of silence in my house, and we'd watch the news over dinner," he said, adding that he "could not believe that I was on 60 Minutes."
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