CNN Legend Christiane Amanpour To Leave Network After 43 Years

CNN Legend Christiane Amanpour To Leave Network After 43 Years

admin Oct 20, 2026 0

After 43 years, award-winning journalist Christiane Amanpour said she is leaving CNN with plans to pursue “new projects down the line.”

“After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years!” she said in a statement Monday that didn’t offer a reason for her decision’s timing.

The network’s chief international anchor said she will finish her daily shows on CNN and PBS at the end of this year and maintain a weekly show on CNN through May, with “a smooth transition through June.” Her PBS program “Amanpour & Company” is an expanded version of her CNN International show, “Amanpour.”

She added that she “looks forward to interesting new projects down the line, and will always be rooting for CNN and maintaining its history of independent journalism. Remember: always be truthful, not neutral.”

In a later video address, Amanpour vowed to remain “fiercely independent” and repeated her hope that CNN does too.

“That’s especially important today as we face unprecedented pressures from all sides: political, financial and also from the rising danger in the field,” she said.

An update from me… pic.twitter.com/AKLOEekEO2

— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) October 19, 2026

CNN Editor-in-Chief Mark Thompson, in a memo to staff, said he’s “very sorry to see her go,” but has “come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally.”

“Christiane has thought carefully about this decision, and she and I have been discussing it for some months,” he said, while recognizing her as a “CNN icon” and “a household name around the world for decades.”

“It would be impossible to list all of her reporting triumphs, exclusive interviews, awards and broadcasting firsts, or the many other accomplishments that have made her one of the most trusted and beloved journalists anywhere,” he said.

Her announced leave follows Paramount earlier this month completing its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery under the newly named Skydance, putting CNN and CBS under the same corporate umbrella and raising concerns about CNN’s future.