43 Years After, Christiane Amanpour Leaves CNN

By Adesina Soyooye

Effective June 2027, the very accomplished and popular Christiane Amanpour will leave the global media outfit, CNN. in June 2027.

For 43 years, she was a constant face on the screen of the international news platform, regaling viewers with her deep analysis of issues and penetrating questions and  taking them around the world, especially to “hot spots.”

But in an announcement on Monday, October 19, which she made through a statement, Amanpour, 68, a citizen of the world, so to say, but Iranian by birth, said time has come for her to leave CNN, and face other issues. “After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years.”

She disclosed that she looks forward to new projects which she described as interesting, but said she would always root for CNN and maintain its history of independent journalism. And, in what looked like a parting shot to her CNN colleagues, she told them: “Remember, always be truthful, not neutral.”

Even though she kept to chest the reason for her CNN exit which has been received and accepted with regrets, speculation is rife that she may not have been too comfortable with the new ownership structure of CNN.

Amanpour, 68, announced her decision on Monday, saying she had spent months considering her future before deciding to part ways with the broadcaster.

“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.

She expressed hope of pursuing new opportunities after her departure while reaffirming her support for the network’s journalism.

“I look forward to interesting new projects down the line, and will always be rooting for CNN and maintaining its history of independent journalism,” she said.

Amanpour added, “Remember: always be truthful, not neutral.”

CNN chairman Mark Thompson confirmed the decision in a memo to staff, saying he and Amanpour had been discussing it for several months.

“Like so many CNNers who will hear the news today, I’m very sorry to see her go, but I’ve come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally,” Thompson said.

Amanpour joined CNN in the early 1980s, initially working as a news assistant before becoming one of its most prominent international correspondents.

Over the course of her career, she reported on major global conflicts, including the Gulf War, the Bosnian War and the genocide in Rwanda. Her assignments also took her to Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and Iran.

She has interviewed world leaders and reported on major political and humanitarian developments, establishing a reputation for international reporting and challenging interviews.

Amanpour has hosted CNN’s international interview programme, Amanpour, since 2009. The programme is expected to move to a weekly schedule in January before ending in May 2027, while she continues reporting and travelling on assignments for CNN until June.

Her public television programme, Amanpour & Company, which airs on PBS in the United States, is also scheduled to end in December 2026.

Her public television programme, Amanpour & Company, which airs on PBS in the United States, is also scheduled to end in December 2026.

Amanpour briefly left CNN in 2010 to become the anchor of ABC News’ This Week, succeeding George Stephanopoulos, before returning to the network.

Despite her planned departure, she said she would continue to support CNN’s commitment to independent journalism and explore other projects in the future.

The speculation has roots in Amanpour’s, speech in May, where she worried  about a then-looming takeover of the CNN by David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance.

Paramount Skydance is the owner of CBS News. She had lamented what she saw as an  “ideological realignment” at the network.

She had said: “I mean, do I have to list what’s happening there? I mean, hemorrhaging viewers, probably hemorrhaging money. This ideological realignment of CBS and the destruction, potentially, of ‘60 Minutes.

“So, clearly, obviously, I’m concerned.”

Even though, according to reports, a spokesman for the CBS declined to comment on Amanpour’s comments, but the network has strongly denied any editorial interference at the network or at its flagship newsmagazine, “60 Minutes.” Amanpour was a contributor there from 1996 to 2005.

CNN was taken over by Paramount Skydance from CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery in a $110 billion merger earlier this month. The new combined company is now called Skydance.

However, in a statement in which she announced her departure which takes effect from June 2027, the accomplished Journalist did not give any hint of the corporate takeover. She, instead, urged her CNN-colleagues to keep up their work.

She wrote in part: “From my very first big exciting assignment covering the First Gulf War, to the horrors of the Bosnian War, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Iran and all the points in between, it’s the teams and the camaraderie that counted so much, as we, together, battled to seek the facts, the evidence and the humanity, so that CNN could always broadcast the truth about the world and to the world, without fear nor favor.

“I will be continuing my successful podcast the Ex-Files with Global and look 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 her statement, she said she is ending her daily shows on CNN and PBS at the end of 2026, but will maintain a weekly show on CNN until June.

 The Washington Post, obtained an email CNN’s Chairman and Editor-in-Chief sent to Staff where he said he was “very sorry to see her go, but I’ve come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally.”

He said: “Christiane has been a household name around the world for decades. Yet she began more than 40 years ago not as one of the biggest stars in CNN’s history, but as a news desk assistant in our Atlanta newsroom.

“Famously, one of her bosses told her back then that she didn’t have what it took to become a foreign correspondent — or to hold any on-air role at all. Boy, did she prove him wrong!”