Anderson Cooper bids '60 Minutes' a final goodbye

Anderson Cooper has signed off from "60 Minutes" for the last time.

After two decades as a correspondent on CBS' newsmagazine, he officially ended his run Sunday night.

Cooper, who also hosts a news program on CNN, announced in February his plans to leave CBS, months after an internal shake-up that followed the arrival of Editor in Chief Bari Weiss.

"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," Anderson said on air. "I think the independence of '60 Minutes' has been critical."

Throughout the farewell segment, the 58-year-old journalist, who was hired in 2007, reminisced about some career highlights, such as speaking with Holocaust survivors, along with people battling malnutrition in Niger, and interviewing A-listers including Lady Gaga and Prince Harry. He also said he hopes the show continues to be a reliable source of investigative journalism.

"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," he said. "I hope that's known and honored and valued and continues."

His departure comes at an uncharted time for CBS, as the company undergoes several leadership changes. Last year, billionaire David Ellison successfully merged his company, Skydance Media, with Paramount, CBS' parent company. Soon after, Ellison hired Bari Weiss as CBS News editor.

Two months after taking on the new role, Weiss made the widely panned decision to pull a "60 Minutes" episode that examined the alleged abuse of deportees sent from the U.S. to an El Salvador prison. The decision earned Weiss heavy criticism and accusations that the move was politically motivated, which CBS has denied.

Cooper said that he's leaving the program to spend more time with his young children. He will remain as an anchor for CNN.

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."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 11:12 AM.