Anderson Cooper talks about the turmoil at CNN.Photo:CNN
CNN
Anderson Cooperis addressing how the recent turmoil at CNN — including thebrief and controversial tenure of former president Chris Lichtand the firing of anchorDon Lemon— has affected staffers.
“He sounds great,” says the journalist.
Reports of trouble at the cable news network began in late 2021 when president Jeff Zuckerfired primetime anchor Chris Cuomofor privately advising his brother, former New York governorAndrew Cuomo, as the latter navigated sexual harassment allegations.
Then in April,CNN shut down its streaming service, CNN+, a month after its launch.
Licht, a former executive producer ofThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, took over as president that spring, and aimed to shake up the schedule and implement other changes, which resulted in a drop in ratings, according to theNew York Times.
Anderson Cooper posed for People in Connecticut Sept. 4.
In one of the most high-profile shuffles, he moved Lemon from his primetime slot to the morning show. There, Lemon made controversial statements, including his remark that Republican presidential candidateNikki Haleywas “past her prime.”
Lemon was ultimately fired in April 2023— a move he bashed ina statement on X(formerly Twitter). “After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon wrote.
In June,The Atlanticpublished an unflattering profile of Licht, titled “Inside the Meltdown at CNN,” in which he disparaged the network’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as Zucker, his predecessor.He was fired days later. The article “was the nail in the coffin," a source told PEOPLE at the time.
Cooper now says seeing CNN in the headlines on a constant basis was not ideal.
“It’s never great to be in a place where you read the paper in the morning and there are stories about where you’re working,” says the host ofAnderson Cooper 360.
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Anderson Cooper posing for the PEOPLE photo shoot at his home in September 2023.Victoria Stevens
Victoria Stevens
“And obviously this is an organization I care a lot about. They have been extraordinarily good to me, and I think the quality of what CNN does, the correspondents they have, the producers they have are extraordinary,” he continues.
“You see it at its best when some event happens and we’re able to get people from all over the globe who are there in various countries all around the world just to descend on a place and report on a story,” adds Cooper.
The newsman was on vacation in Colombia with his friend andex-partner, Benjamin Maisani, 50, andthe two sons they are co-parenting, Wyatt, 3, and 19-month-old Sebastian, when CNN announced Thompson would be taking over.
Cooper had advanced notice, he says: “I was given a heads-up before it hit publicly, and I’ve spoken to him. He’s obviously got incredible experience.”
For more on Anderson Cooper, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.
source: people.com
