The clock has stopped on Anderson Cooper's time on 60 Minutes.
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The reporter announced in February that he was not renewing his contract with the CBS television newsmagazine. The 58-year-old shared that he was leaving to focus on his family. After 20 years with the show, Cooper said goodbye yesterday, May 17.
How Did Anderson Cooper Say Goodbye?
In a YouTube video, Cooper gave an impassioned goodbye to viewers.
"My vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces, and I've loved it," he shared. "But it's been tough. I always imagined, like, 'OK, when I don't want to be in the daily-news grind, I'd love to just tell 60 Minutes stories, but when I had kids, the reality of having kids is different than anything you can kind of imagine."
Cooper has two children with his ex, six-year-old Wyatt and four-year-old Sebastian. He shared a touching story that a colleague told him about the last time his son let him hold his hand on the way to school.
"I almost started to cry when he told me that because I'm in South Africa and my kid is going to school that day and I'm not there," he added. "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. And those days, that clock is ticking, I think.
"I don't think the reality has really hit me that I'm not gonna be doing this any longer. To give up something that you've watched since you were a kid, yeah, I will miss this."
Is Anderson Cooper Staying at CNN?
Cooper will remain at CNN as host of Anderson Cooper 360. He renewed his contract with CNN in December 2025.
However, Cooper's departure comes at a difficult time for CBS News, which has faced numerous buyouts and layoffs following the hiring of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief.
Weiss had reportedly considered making Cooper the anchor of CBS Evening News, but the job ultimately went to Tony Dokoupil. Since Dokoupil took over, the show has faced ongoing problems.
