Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes." (Screen grab via CBS)
On Monday evening, as the media class wrapped up its three-day Presidents’ Day weekend, a bombshell development sent shockwaves across the industry. Anderson Cooper, Lachlan Cartwright reported, had declined to sign a new agreement with CBS News, meaning his nearly two-decade run on "60 Minutes" will come to an end after the current season concludes.
"Being a correspondent at '60 Minutes' has been one of the great honors of my career. I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors, and camera crews in the business," Cooper said in an official statement soon after, confirming the news. "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 still want to spend time with me."
Suffice to say, Cooper left out a crucial reason—perhaps the reason—as to why he had made the decision to exit the venerable newsmagazine. While his desire to spend more time with his young family certainly played a role in the decision to pass up on the Bari Weiss–led network’s renewal offer, it was not the only factor. Far from it.
Behind the scenes, Status has learned that Cooper had…
The remainder of this newsletter is for paid subscribers only.
Scoop-driven reporting and sharp-edged analysis. See why The Wall Street Journal declared Status a “must-read.”
Already a subscriber? Sign in.
A subscription gets you full access to our nightly newsletter, which includes:
✅ Essential reporting on and analysis of the Fourth Estate, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the Information Wars, and more.
✅ Hand-curated links to the most consequential stories moving the needle in the key corridors of the industry.
✅ Unlimited access to our online archive where you can read previous editions of the newsletter.
