Christiane Amanpour to Depart CNN After 43-Year Tenure

Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, announced she will be leaving the network after 43 years. Her daily show, "Amanpour," on CNN International will be reduced to once a week at the start of 2027 and will conclude in May of that year, with her departure from the network following in June.

Amanpour, 68, also plans to end her PBS show, "Amanpour & Co.," by the end of 2024. She will continue her podcast, "The Ex Files," with her former U.S. diplomat husband, Jamie Rubin. "After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years!" Amanpour stated. She expressed continued support for CNN’s independent journalism, emphasizing, "Always be truthful, not neutral."

Her exit comes as CNN navigates a new ownership under Skydance, which completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6. The merger brings CBS and CNN under the same corporate umbrella.

Amanpour joined CNN in 1983 as an assistant in Atlanta. CNN CEO Mark Thompson noted in a statement that Amanpour's early promise was not universally recognized, recalling that one of her former bosses told her she lacked the potential for an on-air role or to be a foreign correspondent. Thompson added, "Boy, did she prove him wrong!"

She transitioned to reporter and became an international correspondent seven years later. Amanpour gained prominence in the early 1990s for her coverage of the Gulf War, conflicts in the Middle East, and other global hotspots. She described war reporting as driven by a "sense of mission, it’s a sense of purpose, it’s a sense of being able to tell a story."

Amanpour has consistently aimed to present complex international stories to American audiences without simplifying them. "I’ve never believed that things are too complicated to put on American television. I’ve never talked down to an audience. I’ve never believed that they just want to know what’s happening in their backyard," she told The Associated Press in 2023.

She also attributed her perspective to her bicultural upbringing. "Because of my upbringing — I’m half-Iranian and half-British — I’ve had the great privilege of being able to see the world from two very distinct perspectives. I’ve always spoken out about the need to bridge gaps. I know we can live in a world that’s not 100% tribalized," she said.

In her statement, Amanpour expressed gratitude to her field crews and show teams. "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," she wrote. "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."

Amanpour has also been public about her 2021 ovarian cancer diagnosis and subsequent recurrences, calling it "the invisible killer" and encouraging regular screenings. She plans to pursue "interesting new projects down the line."