CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss’ editorial direction prompted Anderson Cooper’s exit from 60 Minutes, a report says.
Cooper, according to Status, wasn’t aligned with the “rightward direction” under Weiss and David Ellison, the CEO of CBS’s parent company, Paramount.
“He wasn’t comfortable with the direction the show was taking under Bari, and is in a position where he doesn’t have to put up with it,” one source said of the 58-year-old CNN anchor and podcast host.
Last month, Status reported that Weiss was stalling a 60 Minutes segment that Cooper was presenting about the Trump administration accepting certain South African refugees. Veteran producer Michael Gavshon was “exasperated” by the “abnormal” edits, according to the report.
That came on the heels of Weiss holding up a segment on the CECOT prison in El Salvador. On both topics, the administration has been touchy.
The Daily Beast has reached out to CBS News for comment.
A network spokesperson told Variety about Cooper declining to renew his contract: “60 Minutes will be here if he ever wants to return.”
Cooper, in a statement confirming his exit, did not mention any internal discord at CBS.
“Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the highlights 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 want to spend time with me.”
Cooper has been with 60 Minutes since its 2006-2007 season.
Cooper’s departure comes after a January New York Post report indicated that Weiss was considering firing 60 Minutes correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Scott Pelley. Each has criticized Weiss’s leadership.
Also, layoffs at CBS News are reportedly planned for the coming few months. At least fifteen percent of staffers could be shown the door before June, according to Status and Variety.
In the meantime, some staffers have opted for buyouts. That includes at least 11 for CBS Evening News.
Alicia Hastey, one of the show’s producers, wrote in a letter to colleagues announcing her exit that journalists at the network have to “self-censor or avoid challenging narratives” under CBS’s Trump-friendly leadership.
