{"id":678511,"date":"2026-05-18T11:35:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/678511\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T11:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:35:34","slug":"watch-anderson-cooper-bid-60-minutes-farewell-as-he-departs-cbs-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/678511\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Anderson Cooper Bid ’60 Minutes’ Farewell as He Departs CBS Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAnderson Cooper<\/a> said an emotional goodbye to 60 Minutes<\/a> on Sunday night, calling out the long-running show\u2019s \u201cindependence\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c60 Minutes has always been a place, at least for me, that you get to step into somebody else\u2019s shoes,\u201d Cooper shared. \u201cYou get to see things through their eyes and see what their struggles are and what they are facing and you learn from that.\u201d He added, \u201cI grew up watching 60 Minutes. I was a weird little kid. I liked watching news.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCooper joined 60 Minutes in 2006 in an agreement between CBS<\/a> News and CNN<\/a>, where he is an anchor. He called his experience on the show as \u201can honor of a life.\u201d 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. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCNN doesn\u2019t like it if I take a lot of time off to work on a 60 Minutes piece, so I\u2019ve worked mostly for 60 Minutes on weekends,\u201d he noted. \u201cMy vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces. I\u2019ve loved it, but it\u2019s been tough.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tHe added, \u201cI don\u2019t think the reality has hit me that I\u2019m not going to be doing this any longer. You know, to give up something you\u2019ve watched since you were a kid. Yeah I will miss this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCooper also reflected on the overall success and importance of 60 Minutes, which debuted on CBS in 1968. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI hope\u00a060 Minutes\u00a0remains\u00a060 Minutes,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s very few things that have been around as long as\u00a060 Minutes\u00a0has and maintained the quality that it has. And things can always evolve and change, and I think that\u2019s awesome. And things should evolve and change, but I hope the core of what\u00a060 Minutes\u00a0is always remains.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tHe continued, \u201cI think the independence of\u00a060 Minutes\u00a0has been critical. I think also the variety of stories. And I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of\u00a060 Minutes. When you see a 60 Minutes story and you\u2019re like, \u2018That 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough 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<\/a>, as well as Paramount Skydance\u2019s ownership of CBS. In December, Weiss pulled a segment on El Salvador\u2019s CECOT prison, where the Trump administration sent deportees last year. <\/p>\n

\n\tSharyn Alfonsi, who reported the story, dubbed the decision a \u201cpolitical\u201d move. \u201cIt is factually correct,\u201d she wrote in an email to staffers. \u201cIn my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tWeiss refuted that, saying she held the story because it was \u201cnot ready.\u201d \u201cWe need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera,\u201d she said. The segment ultimately aired several weeks later without any changes. However, it\u2019s been rumored that Weiss plans to make more changes to 60 Minutes for its 59th season. \u201cPeople [at 60 Minutes] are afraid and they\u2019re waiting for something monumental to happen here,\u201d a staffer told The Guardian<\/a> this week. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think it should be at the heart and center of what we do,\u201d Weiss said of 60 Minutes in January. \u201cThe idea that that should just be something people are encountering for an hour on a Sunday night doesn\u2019t make sense to me, especially when there\u2019s so much love and devotion and trust in that brand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anderson Cooper said an emotional goodbye to 60 Minutes on Sunday night, calling out the long-running show\u2019s \u201cindependence\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[10942,17123,64,63,172868,3871,59449,134,427],"class_list":["post-678511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-60-minutes","tag-anderson-cooper","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bari-weiss","tag-cbs","tag-cnn","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}