American journalist Anderson Cooper has signed 60 minutes after 20 years as a correspondent.
His final appearance aired during the May 17 season finale, where he reported on London’s taxi industry and the rise of autonomous vehicles. CBS later released an extended farewell interview with him.
Cooper became emotional during his final on-air sign-off and struggled to hold back tears as he delivered his closing line, “I’m Anderson Cooper,” repeating it three times, as is tradition for the show.
In the wide-ranging interview, he reflected on some dangerous assignments as he went down memory lane, including diving with Nile crocodiles and riding a jet ski through heavy waves in Portugal for the program.
He also touched on his interviews with high-profile figures like Prince Harry and Lady Gaga, but said some of the most meaningful moments came from conversations with everyday people, including individuals working to combat child malnutrition in Niger.
Cooper said the job “never felt like work” and more like “being invited into people’s homes” and personal stories.
“You’re invited into their struggle, you’re invited into whatever it is that made them do it 60 minutess,” Cooper explained.
He also spoke about the challenge of balancing his work at CNN with his reporting 60 minutessaying it required frequent travel and working on weekends.
“All the time I made pieces for 60 minutes, my full-time job at CNN is over and still is. And it was really challenging to do the kind of work that you have to do to have a great one 60 minutes piece,” said Cooper.
He continued, “CNN doesn’t like me taking a lot of time off to work on a movie 60 minutes broken, so I usually worked 60 minutes on the weekend. While on vacation at CNN, I worked on 60 Minutes pieces. And I loved it, but it was tough.”
Cooper said he realized it was time to step away from the CBS News gig and watch his sons, Wyatt and Sebastian, grow up.
“I have a four-year-old and a just-six-year-old, and I want to spend as much time with them as possible, while they still want to spend time with me,” Cooper said. “And those days, that clock is ticking, I guess.”
“I hope that 60 Minutes is around for when my kids grow up and have kids of their own, and that they can watch it with their kids,” he added.
In a February statement, CBS said: “We are grateful [Cooper] for the fact that he has dedicated a large part of his life to this broadcast, and that he understands the importance of spending more time with his family,” he added: “60 minutes will be here if he ever wants to return.”
Cooper will continue in his role as anchor of CNN Anderson Cooper 360°. He joined for the first time 60 minutes in 2006 and has been a regular correspondent ever since.
