Christiane Amanpour to leave CNN after four decades as Ellison era begins

Christiane Amanpour to leave CNN after four decades as Ellison era begins

CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour will leave next year, after 43 years with the network, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Monday. The news channel has recently come under the ownership of Skydance, whose Chief Executive Officer David Ellison has faced criticism over his stewardship of CBS News. “After thinking carefully for several months … I’ve decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years,” Amanpour said in a video statement, joking that it was “longer than many marriages”. She added that her daily show on CNN would conclude at the end of this year, but that she would continue hosting ‘Amanpour’ once a week through to June 2027. Thanking her TV crew and colleagues, Amanpour highlighted that it was the “teams and the camaraderie we built that counts so much”. Amanpour, whose first major assignment was covering the first Gulf War, went on to report on conflicts in Bosnia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Iran. Skydance, formerly Paramount Skydance, completed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery earlier this month, bringing CNN and CBS News under one roof. CNN chief Mark Thompson and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss kept their roles, with both reporting to Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz. Lawmakers have criticised Ellison for tailoring news coverage at CBS News to favour US President Donald Trump.