“I had no other choice”: Anderson Cooper has finally spoken out on the REAL reason behind his reported decision to say goodbye to 60 Minutes after 20 years, revealing a deeply HEARTBREAKING family-related reason that left him with no other path but to step away

“I don’t think the reality has really hit me that I’m not gonna be doing this any longer,” Cooper said

Anderson Cooper officially said goodbye to 60 Minutes.

The longtime correspondent, who joined the newsmagazine nearly 20 years ago, marked his exit from 60 Minutes on Sunday, May 17. The departure comes three months after Cooper, 58, announced his departure, citing family reasons.

In a 60 Minutes Overtime segment shared to YouTube, Cooper looked back at his two-decade run on CBS and appeared emotional as he offered his final “I’m Anderson Cooper.”

“My vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces and I’ve loved it. But it’s been tough. I always imagined like, ‘OK, when I don’t want to be in the daily-news grind, I’d love to just tell 60 Minutes stories,’ but when I had kids, the reality of having kids is different than anything you can kind of imagine,” Cooper said.

Cooper — who shares kids Wyatt, 6, and Sebastian, 4, with his ex Benjamin Maisani — then recalled filming a segment in South Africa and hearing a story from a 60 Minutes colleague about the last time his son let him hold his hand walking to school.

“I almost started to cry when he told me that because I’m in South Africa and my kid is going to school that day and I’m not there,” Cooper said. “I’ve got a 4 year old and a just-now 6 year old. And I want to spend as much time with them as I can while they still want to spend time with me. And those days, that clock is ticking, I think.”

He added, “I don’t think the reality has really hit me that I’m not gonna be doing this any longer. To give up something that you’ve watched since you were a kid, yeah, I will miss this.”

Cooper joined 60 Minutes during the 2006-07 television season, while continuing to anchor CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360°, as one of the few journalists to hold major roles on both cable and network television.

He remains at CNN, where he renewed his contract in December 2025 and continues to anchor Anderson Cooper 360° as well as co-host CNN’s annual New Year’s Eve special alongside Andy Cohen.

Elsewhere during the latest segment, Cooper reflected on a few of his favorite moments on air — from the “dangerous” times like diving to see crocodiles, to briefly and partly losing his eyesight while jet-skiing for an interview in Portugal.

As for his hopes for the future of 60 Minutes, Cooper wants it to remain what it is at its core. “There are very few things that have been around as long as 60 Minutes has and maintained the quality that it has,” he said. “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.”

“I think the independence of 60 Minutes has been critical,” he added. “And I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of 60 Minutes.”

Closing out the moment, Cooper delivered the signature “I’m Anderson Cooper” three times over, appearing emotional and taking a long pause before his final attempt.

The CNN anchor previously said in a statement that the decision to step down ultimately came down to family. “Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the great honors of my career. I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors and camera crews in the business,” he said in February.

“For nearly 20 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 still want to spend time with me.”

Cooper’s exit comes during a period of upheaval at CBS News. Bari Weiss was appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News in October 2025 following Paramount Skydance acquiring her news and opinion site, The Free Press. Weiss has since made headlines for pulling the 60 Minutes segment, “Inside CECOT.”

Separately, longtime 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens announced in April 2025 that he would be stepping away from the CBS newsmagazine. The news came amid Paramount’s legal battle with President Donald Trump, who sued the show over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Paramount later paid $16 million to settle the lawsuit without an admission of wrongdoing.