Anderson Cooper has made it clear how he feels about working with Bari Weiss.
The star anchor, 59, has told colleagues at CNN that he does not want to work for the beleaguered CBS News chief, two sources told The New York Times. His comments came amid reports that Weiss is being considered for a top role at the network, which is slated to soon come under the control of Trump-friendly CEO David Ellison.
Representatives for CBS News and CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cooper concluded his two decades at CBS’ flagship broadcast, 60 Minutes, just months after Weiss was installed at the helm of the network.
“He wasn’t comfortable with the direction the show was taking under Bari, and is in a position where he doesn’t have to put up with it,” an insider told Status in February.
Cooper made his bombshell exit after the media newsletter reported that Weiss was stalling his 60 Minutes segment diving into the Trump administration’s claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa. Veteran producer Michael Gavshon was “exasperated” by the “abnormal” edits, according to Status.
Cooper took a thinly veiled jab at Weiss in his parting comments in May.
“I hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes,” Cooper said in his final appearance on the show. “There’s very few things that have been around for as long as 60 Minutes has and maintained the quality that it has.”
“I think the independence of 60 Minutes has been critical,” he added. “I hope the core of what 60 Minutes is always remains.”
Weiss, an anti-woke political commentator with no broadcast television experience, was handpicked as CBS News chief by Ellison, the CEO of the network’s parent company Paramount Skydance.
Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, have close ties to President Donald Trump.
After the Ellisons took control of Paramount last year, the 80-year-old president said, “They’re friends of mine. They’re big supporters of mine. And they’ll do the right thing. They’ll make CBS — they called it the Tiffany Network, and it’s got great potential. CBS has great potential.”
Now, Ellison has set his sights on Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN. Paramount Skydance is finalizing a mammoth deal to acquire the media conglomerate, which would place CNN under Ellison’s purview.
The Times reported that Ellison and his deputies are weighing putting Weiss in charge of CNN, including a scenario where she is paired with a more experienced TV executive.
