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Anderson Cooper delivered an emotional farewell on his final appearance on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
Cooper cited a desire to spend more time with his family as the reason for his departure.
He expressed gratitude for his time on 60 Minutes and hoped the show would maintain its core values.

Anderson Cooper said goodbye to 60 Minutes on Sunday night (May 17), after two decades on the CBS news magazine program.

After delivering his final report for the show, the long-time journalist gave his iconic sign-off, telling the audience, “I’m Anderson Cooper.” In a special behind-the-scenes look, an emotional Cooper bowed his head before delivering his closing line three times.

In February, Cooper announced he would be leaving CBS’ 60 Minutes after more than 20 years. While he stated it was to spend more time with his family, sources told Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter that Cooper wasn’t aligned with the “rightward direction” of CBS News under Weiss and David Ellison.

“It’s been a hell of a ride,” Cooper said in an interview shared on 60 Minutes Overtime. “This is my last shoot for 60 Minutes. 60 Minutes has always been a place, at least for me, that you get to step into somebody else’s shoes. You get to see things through their eyes and see what their struggles are and what they are facing and you learn from that.”

He continued, “I don’t think the reality has hit me that I’m not going to be doing this any longer, you know, to give up something you’ve watched since you were a kid. Yeah, I will miss this.”

Cooper revealed that he started watching 60 Minutes after his father died and became a fan of the show for its “trusted” and “hard-hitting” reporting. After he landed a gig on the show, the CNN anchor said he “could not believe” he’d made it.

The Anderson Cooper 360 host said it has been a challenge juggling his work at CNN with his work on 60 Minutes. “CNN doesn’t like it if I take a lot of time off to work on a 60 Minutes piece, so I’ve worked mostly for 60 Minutes on weekends,” he shared. “My vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces, and I’ve loved it, but it’s been tough.”

As for the future of the show, Cooper said, “I hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes. There’s very few things that have been around as long as 60 Minutes has and maintained the quality that it has. And things can always evolve and change, and I think that’s awesome. And things should evolve and change, but I hope the core of what 60 Minutes is always remains.”

You can watch the full segment featuring Cooper’s final sign-off in the video above.

60 Minutes, Sundays, 7/6 c, CBS