Chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour will step down next June, winding down her daily programs before departing.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, will leave the network at the end of next June after more than four decades on the air, executives and the veteran journalist announced Monday.
CNN chief executive Mark Thompson told staff in an internal memo that Amanpour decided the moment was right to start a fresh chapter, NBC News reported. “After more than 43 years at CNN, Christiane has decided that the time is right to begin a new chapter,” Thompson wrote. He noted that he and Amanpour had discussed her departure for several months.
Schedule for her departure
Amanpour’s daily programming will wind down before she leaves the network entirely. According to a memo published by Deadline, she plans to end her daily broadcasts on both CNN and PBS at the end of this year.
Early in 2027, her CNN International series, “Amanpour,” will switch to a weekly broadcast, Fox News reported. The program will air its final episode in May, followed by a transition period through the end of June when her CNN tenure concludes.
Her public television program, “Amanpour & Co,” will also end at the close of the year, PBS NewsHour reported. Amanpour said she plans to continue hosting her podcast, “The Ex Files,” which she produces with Global alongside her co-host and ex-husband, former U.S. diplomat Jamie Rubin. In her statement, she said she looks forward to new projects down the line.
Ownership changes and newsroom reaction
Amanpour addressed the decision on the air, telling viewers she has always remained independent and pointing to political, financial, and physical pressures facing journalists in the field. In a written statement, she told colleagues, “Remember: always be truthful, not neutral.”
Inside CNN, colleagues reacted with surprise. Fox News reported that one employee called her the network’s reigning titan, while another termed her the heart and soul of the company.
Her departure marks the first high-profile journalist exit since CNN moved under new corporate ownership. Paramount, owned by Skydance chief executive David Ellison, formally closed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Oct. 6, bringing CNN and CBS under common ownership. Outlets reported differing valuations for the transaction: Fox News stated the purchase was worth $111 billion, while PBS NewsHour put the buyout at $81 billion.
Thompson will remain the network’s leader under the combined company, reporting directly to the Skydance leadership team headed by Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz. Amanpour previously raised concerns in May about Ellison’s ownership, pointing to changes at CBS News after he named Bari Weiss editor-in-chief, and had previously clashed with former CNN chief Chris Licht over a 2023 town hall with Donald Trump.
Four decades on the front lines
Amanpour began her career at CNN in 1983 as an entry-level assistant in Atlanta, where an early supervisor told her she lacked the talent to become an on-air reporter or foreign correspondent. She became a reporter, moved into international reporting seven years later, and rose to prominence during the early 1990s covering the Persian Gulf War.
Over the next four decades, she covered major conflicts and events across the globe, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Bosnian War, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the war in Gaza. She also conducted interviews with foreign leaders such as Tony Blair, Moammar Gadhafi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hassan Rouhani, and Bill Clinton.
Amanpour, who is 68, has credited her half-Iranian and half-British background with helping her see global stories from contrasting viewpoints. She has also spoken publicly about being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021 and dealing with two recurrences, advising others to undergo regular medical scans.
Throughout her career, she drew attention for her view that objectivity does not mean giving equal weight to opposing arguments, which she described in a 2023 speech as false equivalence. Her reporting on the Middle East also drew public scrutiny, including a 2020 on-air remark comparing the Trump administration to Kristallnacht that she later retracted following criticism from the Israeli government and the Anti-Defamation League.
Amanpour will remain on the air through the completion of her weekly CNN program in May before leaving the network the following month.
