Anderson Cooper has announced he is leaving CBS News’ 60 Minutes. However, his exit has nothing to do with any controversies or breaches of contract. Instead, there is a whole different reason for Cooper’s departure: And it spells family.
On February 16, it was announced that 16-time Emmy Award-winning journalist is ending his tenure at CBS’s 60 Minutes. He spent nearly 20 years contributing to the program.
“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,” Cooper said in a statement. “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 also hosted a podcast centered on grief that has become increasingly popular, and hosts a Sunday long-form program called The Whole Story.
CBS News said Monday evening that it was “grateful” to Cooper for “dedicating so much of his life to this broadcast, and understands the importance of spending more time with family. 60 Minutes will be here if he ever wants to return.”
Anderson Cooper leaving ’60 Minutes’
As Cooper mentioned in the statement, his reason for leaving was not about any negotiations that went downhill or anything like that. Instead, it is about closing one chapter of his life and opening another.
Now, he wants to focus on raising his two children, Wyatt and Sebastian. Becoming a father changed his life in a big way, but as a child, as he realized he was way, he never imagined he would become a father.
“When I was 12 years old and knew I was gay and thought about my life, it always upset me because I thought, ‘I will never be able to have a kid,’” Anderson Cooper told People in 2020.
On April 30, 2020, Anderson Cooper revealed on-air that he had become a father. Three days earlier, his son, Wyatt Morgan Cooper, had been welcomed to the world.
Anderson introduced his son to the public on Instagram. Alongside a picture of the baby boy, he wrote on Instagram, “This is Wyatt Cooper. He is three days old. He is named after my father, who died when I was ten.”
The name Morgan came from his parents, who initially considered it for Anderson.
“I recently found a list they made 52 years ago when they were trying to think of names for me,” he continued. “I am grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, and watched over him lovingly, and tenderly, and gave birth to him.”
Focusing on fatherhood
Anderson Cooper also thanked the surrogate’s husband and children. He said their support was an “extraordinary blessing” and added, “My family is blessed to have this family in our lives.” In the post, Cooper also mentioned family members he wished could have been there to share the special moment.
“It feels like my life has actually begun,” he told People Magazine in June 2020. “This is a new level of love. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced.”
Just one week after Wyatt’s birth, he shared that he and his ex-partner, Benjamin Maisani, would raise the child together. The two split in 2018 after being together for many years, but stayed close friends. In 2022, they became parents again when they welcomed their second son, Sebastian Luke.
Even though they are no longer a couple, they continue to co-parent.
“It’s probably an unusual setup,” Cooper told People in 2021, adding, “but I knew he would be a great dad and he is.”
“I want to be the best parent I can be”
Anderson Cooper has also said he is open to having more children one day. However, in 2022, he siad that “there’s nothing planned.”
“I want to be the best parent I can be,” Anderson stated.
In a September 2023 cover story, Cooper said these early years as a parent mean everything to him.
He shared that parenting is “the best time in my life,” and said it gives him “moments of such bliss, humor and gentleness and sheer delight that it stuns me.”
Let’s all wish Anderson Cooper the very best in the future. Share this article if you think having children is wonderful, too.