Anderson Cooper Fights Back Tears in Emotional '60 Minutes' Sign-Off

Anderson Cooper officially signed off from CBS News' 60 Minutes on Sunday night, May 17, choking up and holding back tears as he delivered his final trademark sign-off after exactly 20 years with the program.

During a special 60 Minutes: Overtime interview reflecting on his two-decade run, an interviewer mentioned the milestone, prompting Cooper to respond, "Wow, it’s been a h--- of a ride."

Cooper struggled to compose himself and bowed his head before delivering his closing line, "I’m Anderson Cooper," three separate times — a long-standing taping tradition for the news magazine.

He closed his tenure by urging the network to protect the core formatting of the show, stating, “I hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes... It’s a good story because it requires time, patience and money.”

The journalist looked back at the wild and dangerous segments he filmed, including diving with Nile crocodiles and being temporarily blinded after a jet-ski mishap in massive Portuguese waves.

“This is crazy,” he said. “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.”

“The thing is, it’s never felt like work. It’s felt like you’re stepping into people’s lives, and you’re invited into people's homes,” he added. “You’re invited into their struggles, you’re invited into whatever it is that has brought them to be on 60 Minutes.”

The 58-year-old journalist originally announced his departure in February, emphasizing that he wanted to stop working weekends to spend time with his young sons, Wyatt, 5, and Sebastian, 4.

Cooper, who joined the venerable news magazine in 2006, admitted that managing a full-time anchor position at CNN while dedicating his vacation and weekend time to deep-dive 60 Minutes reporting had become too exhausting.

“The whole time I’ve done pieces for 60 Minutes, my full-time job has been over at CNN and still is, and it’s been really challenging to do the kind of work you need to do to have a great 60 Minutes piece,” he said. “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. My vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces, and I’ve loved it, but it’s been tough.”

Industry reports noted that Cooper's exit also aligned with internal friction regarding the "rightward direction" of CBS News under its new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.

Cooper nodded to that, saying, “I hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes. There’s very few things that have been around for as long as 60 Minutes has and maintain the quality that it has.”

Cooper is not leaving journalism altogether. He recently signed a fresh contract with CNN, where he will continue hosting Anderson Cooper 360° and his podcast, "All There Is."

He will also remain co-hosting CNN’s popular annual New Year’s Eve live coverage alongside Bravo chief Andy Cohen, who is said to have had a role in leading Cooper to quit CBS.