"60 Minutes has always been a place, at least for me, that you get to step into somebody else's shoes"

Anderson Cooper said an emotional goodbye to 60 Minutes on Sunday night, calling out the long-running show’s “independence” during his last address to viewers. During his sign-off, Cooper reflected on his two decades of work with the newsmagazine, which have included hard-hitting interviews and memorable moments in the field.

“60 Minutes has always been a place, at least for me, that you get to step into somebody else’s shoes,” Cooper shared. “You get to see things through their eyes and see what their struggles are and what they are facing and you learn from that.” He added, “I grew up watching 60 Minutes. I was a weird little kid. I liked watching news.”

Cooper joined 60 Minutes in 2006 in an agreement between CBS News and CNN, where he is an anchor. He called his experience on the show as “an honor of a life.” After sharing memories from several key stories and interviews, Cooper explained that he primarily does 60 Minutes during the weekends due to his CNN schedule. That means time away from his young children, who he cited as the reason for his departure.

“CNN doesn’t like it if I take a lot of time off to work on a 60 Minutes piece, so I’ve worked mostly for 60 Minutes on weekends,” he noted. “My vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces. I’ve loved it, but it’s been tough.”

He added, “I don’t think the reality has hit me that I’m not going to be doing this any longer. You know, to give up something you’ve watched since you were a kid. Yeah I will miss this.”

Cooper also reflected on the overall success and importance of 60 Minutes, which debuted on CBS in 1968.

“I hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes,” he said. “There’s very few things that have been around as long as 60 Minutes has and maintained the quality that it has. And things can always evolve and change, and I think that’s awesome. And things should evolve and change, but I hope the core of what 60 Minutes is always remains.”

He continued, “I think the independence of 60 Minutes has been critical. I think also the variety of stories. And I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of 60 Minutes. When you see a 60 Minutes story and you’re like, ‘That was a really good story, it was a good story because it requires time, it requires patience, it requires money. And it requires an appreciation of the history and the sacrifices and the hard work of the people here. And I hope that’s known and honored and valued and continues. 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.”

Although Cooper has said he is leaving 60 Minutes to spend time with his family, there has been speculation that his departure is due to changes under the new regime of CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, as well as Paramount Skydance’s ownership of CBS. In December, Weiss pulled a segment on El Salvador’s CECOT prison, where the Trump administration sent deportees last year.

Sharyn Alfonsi, who reported the story, dubbed the decision a “political” move. “It is factually correct,” she wrote in an email to staffers. “In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”

Weiss refuted that, saying she held the story because it was “not ready.” “We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera,” she said. The segment ultimately aired several weeks later without any changes. However, it’s been rumored that Weiss plans to make more changes to 60 Minutes for its 59th season. “People [at 60 Minutes] are afraid and they’re waiting for something monumental to happen here,” a staffer told The Guardian this week.

“I think it should be at the heart and center of what we do,” Weiss said of 60 Minutes in January. “The idea that that should just be something people are encountering for an hour on a Sunday night doesn’t make sense to me, especially when there’s so much love and devotion and trust in that brand.”