Anderson Cooper has finally parted ways with CBS's highly popular show 60 Minutes after twenty years.
In a shocking turn of events, on Sunday, May 17, Cooper waved goodbye to the investigative news program with an emotional message during an interview for 60 Minutes Overtime.
Marking his exit from 60 Minutes, Cooper noted, "I hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes."
He continued, "There’s very few things that have been around for as long as 60 Minutes has and maintain the quality that it has, and things can always evolve and change."
"I think that’s awesome, and things should evolve and change, but I hope the core of what 60 Minutes is always remains,"Cooper added.
Seemingly hinting at the interferance Bari Weiss - who joined the network's news section as the new editor-in-chief last year in a veiled dig, the host added, "I think the independence of 60 Minutes has been critical. I think also the variety of stories."
"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 noted
How Bari Weiss appointment sparked tensions at CBS
During Weiss's one-year tenure at CBS has been extremely controvercial as top producers exited on ideological grounds.
Tensions between Weiss and editorial team further intensified after she ordered the spiking of a segment alleging that "brutal and torturous conditions" prevailed at CECOT, the El Salvador mega-prison where the deportees have been kept by Trump administration.
Despite the piece "needing additional reporting", journalist, Sharyn Alfonsi kept ensuring that the best journalistic practices have been followed and it was eventually aired on January 18th with only minor edits.
60 Minutes also faced claims of sidelining their senior anchor Lesley Stahl as a recent interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was conducted by Major Garrett instead.
Meanwhile, recent reports revealed that Bari Weiss intends to give more airtime to the “MAGA-coded” Tony Dokoupil by shake-up the program’s presenting roster.
