Anderson Cooper’s ’60 Minutes’ exit blindsided CBS Information management: report

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Anderson Cooper's exit from "60 Minutes" reportedly left CBS Information management "blindsided."

Puck Information reported Wednesday that CBS Information editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and the community's high brass anticipated Cooper to resume his contract and stay on board as a "60 Minutes" correspondent, who first joined practically 20 years in the past.

In response to the report, Cooper was making "$2 million" a 12 months at CBS along with the $17-$18 million he reportedly makes yearly at CNN.

ANDERSON COOPER EXITS '60 MINUTES' AS CORRESPONDENT

Anderson Cooper is exiting "60 Minutes" after practically 20 years as a correspondent. (Mike Coppola/Getty Pictures for CNN)

"These negotiations had been on the one-yard line," one supply accustomed to the negotiations advised Puck Information.

One other supply advised Puck Information, "It was complete chaos... Everybody was caught off guard." "Bari is pissed," one reportedly stated.

Whereas Cooper could not be working underneath Weiss now, Puck Information' Dylan Byers famous the potential for Weiss overseeing CNN if CBS Information' father or mother firm Paramount, run by David Ellison, is profitable in its bid to take over CNN's father or mother firm Warner Bros. Discovery.

CBS Information didn't instantly reply to Fox Information Digital's request for remark.

AOC ATTACKS BARI WEISS, FALSELY CLAIMS SHE ‘KILLED’ ‘60 MINUTES’ REPORT ON CECOT

CBS Information editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and the highest community brass had been reportedly "blindsided" by Cooper's exit. (Michele Crowe/CBS Information through Getty Pictures)

After information leaked of his departure, Cooper launched a press release citing his household as a cause for rolling again his on-air work.

"Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of many nice honors of my profession," Cooper stated within the assertion. "I obtained to inform superb tales, and work with among the greatest producers, editors, and digital camera crews within the enterprise. For practically twenty years, I have been in a position to steadiness my jobs at CNN and CBS, however I've little youngsters now, and I need to spend as a lot time with them as potential, whereas they nonetheless need to spend time with me."

CBS, BARI WEISS FACING MOUNTING BACKLASH FROM LIBERAL CRITICS OVER YANKING '60 MINUTES' SEGMENT

A spokesperson for CBS Information beforehand advised Fox Information Digital, "For greater than twenty years, Anderson Cooper has taken 60 Minutes viewers on journeys to faraway locations, advised us unforgettable tales, reported consequential investigations and interviewed many distinguished figures. We're grateful to him for dedicating a lot of his life to this broadcast, and perceive the significance of spending extra time with household. 60 Minutes might be right here if he ever desires to return."

"60 Minutes" has confronted turmoil over the previous 12 months between President Donald Trump's lawsuit over its Kamala Harris interview to the newsroom conflict over Bari Weiss' resolution to drag its CECOT section. (Screenshot/CBS Information)

Cooper's exit comes weeks after his "60 Minutes" colleague Sharyn Alfonsi clashed with Weiss over a report that Weiss deemed wasn't prepared for air.

In December, Weiss pulled Alfonsi's section on the Middle for Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) shortly earlier than it was set to air. Alfonsi defiantly advised colleagues she believed it was a political resolution whereas Weiss sought to incorporate voices from the Trump administration.

The section in the end aired in January, however Weiss and CBS Information confronted tense blowback from liberal critics.

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Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox Information Digital. Story suggestions will be despatched to joseph.wulfsohn@fox.com and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.