00:00I'm Anderson Cooper. I'm Anderson Cooper. I'm Anderson Cooper.
00:03So yeah, for the last time.
00:14I'm Anderson Cooper.
00:16Anderson Cooper gave a heartfelt sign-off in his final 60 minutes on Sunday night,
00:21after an impressive 20 years on the air.
00:23The trailblazing news anchor, who's of course the son of the late Gloria Vanderbilt,
00:27who died in 2019, also appeared to take a thinly veiled dig at Barry Weiss
00:32and the future direction of the legendary news magazine.
00:35In 60 Minutes Overtime, the 58-year-old offered up a pointed defense of the show
00:40and his colleagues. Take a look.
00:42I hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes.
00:46There's very few things that have been around for as long as 60 Minutes has
00:49and maintain the quality that it has.
00:52And things can always evolve and change, and I think that's awesome,
00:55and things should evolve and change.
00:57But I hope the core of what 60 Minutes is always remains.
01:02Cooper went on to say,
01:04I think the independence of 60 Minutes has been critical.
01:07I think also the variety of stories,
01:08and I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of 60 Minutes.
01:13In February, Cooper announced that he decided not to renew his contract
01:17as a correspondent in a last-minute decision that floored executives.
01:21Cooper was poised to become the face of 60 Minutes under Barry Weiss.
01:25Notably, he did not mention the editor-in-chief by name during his farewell segment on May 17th.
01:31Weiss co-founded the Free Press before she was installed atop CBS News by Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison.
01:37In recent months, Weiss has become a lightning rod inside the network after intervening in several high-profile editorial matters
01:45tied to 60 Minutes,
01:46which has long enjoyed relative autonomy within the CBS News division.
01:50The outlet's status previously reported that Cooper had also grown increasingly uncomfortable
01:55with the rightward direction of the network and frustration inside 60 Minutes over Weiss's growing editorial involvement.
02:02CBS publicly framed Cooper's departure as a family decision,
02:06with the CNN anchor saying earlier this year that he wanted to spend more time with his young children.
02:10He has two kids, Wyatt, age 6, and Sebastian, age 4.
02:14Here's what a CBS News spokesperson told The Post.
02:17For more than two decades, Anderson Cooper has taken 60 Minutes viewers on journeys to faraway places,
02:23told us unforgettable stories, reported consequential investigations,
02:27and interviewed many prominent figures.
02:29We're grateful to him for dedicating so much of his life to this broadcast
02:32and understand the importance of spending more time with family.
02:36The spokesperson added that 60 Minutes will always be here if Cooper ever wants to return.
02:41In a separate statement, Cooper said being a correspondent on the legendary show
02:45has been one of the greatest honors of his career.
Comments