Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
Christiane Amanpour leaves CNN. During more than four decades with the network, she rose through the ranks from editorial assistant to one of the network’s most recognizable faces. Amanpour, who currently hosts an eponymous show for CNN International, will gradually retire from the network until his official exit in June 2027. Coincidentally (or not), his departure comes just as CNN is now part of the Ellison family media empire.
“After many months of reflection and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to part ways with CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years!” Amanpour shared in a statement, adding that she “looks forward to exciting new projects in the future, and will always support CNN and uphold its history of independent journalism. Remember: always be honest, not neutral.”
In a memo to staff, CNN President Mark Thompson said he and Amanpour had been discussing his departure “for a few months.” “Like so many CNN viewers who will hear the news today, I am truly sorry to see her go, but have come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally,” Thompson wrote. He then thanked Amanpour for “43 extraordinary years of remarkable journalism, loyalty and friendship.”
Amanpour did not share the exact reason for his departure, but his announcement comes just weeks after David Ellison’s Skydance acquired Warner Bros. Discovery, placing CNN under the responsibility of the man who gave Bari Weiss his job at CBS News.
Last May, Amanpour expressed concerns about Ellison’s takeover of CNN at a journalism summit in London. “Obviously I’m concerned, and I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say about an ongoing corporate matter, but I am obviously, as a person (and) as a journalist with a record, concerned,” Amanpour said. “And I’m concerned about what happened to the other things that he’s already taken over, like CBS News, right? I mean, do I have to list what’s going on there?”
Somewhere, Rory Gilmore lights a candle as a sign of mourning.
Gn world
