Christiane Amanpour, who turned her job as a press assistant in CNN’s foreign affairs department into a year-long travel assignment for the news giant, plans to leave the media company in June.
“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 said in a statement Monday. She added 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.”
Amanpour’s exit comes just as CNN comes under the control of a new owner, Skydance, which is grappling with billions of dollars in debt and a perception that it may want to steer its news operations toward a particular view on politics and other issues. In May, Amanpour said at an event that she was “concerned” about Skydance’s handling of CBS News, which came under scrutiny after installing a provocative digital entrepreneur, Bari Weiss, as editor-in-chief. “I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say about an ongoing corporate matter, but I’m obviously, as a person, as a journalist with a record, concerned,” Amanpour said at the time.
Amanpour, 68, has hosted both an evening show for CNN International since 2009 and a show for PBS, “Amanpour & Company,” since 2017. She briefly left CNN for an ill-fated stint at ABC News, where she was named moderator of the Sunday show, “The Week,” in 2010. Low ratings undermined her efforts there, and she returned to CNN in 2012.
“Christiane thought carefully about this decision, and she and I have discussed it for several months,” CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement. “Like so many CNN viewers who will hear the news today, I am truly sorry to see her go, but I have come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally.”
CNN employs many journalists, correspondents and anchors, but few are as tied to the outlet’s overall brand as Amanpour. Perhaps only Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper enjoy similar status among current staff members. After landing a role in Eastern Europe in 1986, she rose to prominence covering the conflicts in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. From 1992 to 2010, she worked as CNN’s chief international correspondent.
“I will end my daily broadcasts on CNN and PBS at the end of this year, while continuing to maintain a weekly show on CNN through May and working on a smooth transition through June,” Amanpour said in his Monday memo. She said she plans to continue working on an independent podcast, “Ex-Files,” which she runs with her ex-husband, Jamie Rubin, a former U.S. State Department official.
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