Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international anchor, said on Monday that she's leaving the network after more than 43 years. She'll end her daily shows on CNN and PBS at the end of this year. Then she'll host a weekly CNN show through May and leave at the end of June 2027. "After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN," she said. She signed off with "Remember: always be truthful, not neutral." Critics and CNN disagree about why she's leaving now. Paramount's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery took effect on October 6. It put CNN under Skydance, the new company run by CEO David Ellison. Back in May, Amanpour said she was worried about what Ellison would do to CNN.

Ellison's Takeover Is Pushing Her Out

Media critics on the left say she's leaving because of the new owner, and one on the right agrees.

She warned about this in May. At a journalism summit in London, Amanpour said she was "concerned" about Ellison buying CNN "based on what's happened to the other things that he's taken over already," like CBS News. She pointed to the "ideological realignment of CBS" and the "destruction potentially of '60 Minutes'." In an on-air address, she told viewers that "we face unprecedented pressures from all sides, political, financial and also from the rising dangers in the field." Zeteo media columnist Justin Baragona noted that her announcement came "just weeks after David Ellison closed on the Warner Bros. merger and took over CNN."

More big names will follow her out. In an opinion piece for Raw Story, John Casey wrote that Amanpour is "reading the writing on the wall." Casey pointed to John Dickerson, the CBS evening news anchor who announced his exit less than a month after Ellison took over Paramount. "Dickerson was the first at CBS. Amanpour is the first at CNN," he wrote. He doesn't trust Ellison's promise of editorial independence, and he expects cost cuts to hit CNN's other stars. Tim Graham, who writes for the conservative watchdog NewsBusters, read it the same way. He wrote that she's "a natural candidate to walk away now that 'good old days' might be waning."

But CNN Says She Made This Call Herself

Her boss says they've been talking about it for months, and the new owner has promised not to meddle.

This decision was months in the making. CNN chairman Mark Thompson told staff that "Christiane has thought carefully about this decision, and she and I have been discussing it for some months." He said he was "very sorry to see her go" but has "come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally." Amanpour's statement doesn't mention Ellison. She said she's looking forward to "interesting new projects down the line." Fox News reported there's "no indication" her exit was tied to the takeover.

The new owner promised to stay out of the newsroom. On the day the merger closed, Ellison said, "We believe in editorial independence, and we will never interfere." He kept Thompson in charge of CNN.

And Her Critics Say It's Overdue

Conservative writers say she turned reporting into advocacy, especially on Israel.

Her critics say her Israel coverage was one-sided. Breitbart's John Nolte cheered the news and called her "far-left." "Amanpour's seething hatred for Israel isn't something she bothers to disguise," he wrote. Fox News recapped two moments she had to take back. She apologized for calling an attack that killed an Israeli rabbi's family a "shootout." She also walked back a 2020 comparison of the Trump presidency to Kristallnacht. The conservative site Twitchy ran the news under the headline "Girl, Bye."

She has said for years that neutrality isn't her goal. Townhall's Matt Vespa pointed to a 2023 speech at Columbia Journalism School. There, Amanpour said "Both-siderism — on the one hand, on the other hand — is not always objectivity." Nolte noted that Ellison put Bari Weiss in charge of CBS News. "One area where Weiss is actually good is how Israel is covered," he wrote.

Where This Lands

Baragona points to the timing, and Casey says Ellison is the reason she's going. Graham, a conservative, agrees with Casey on why she's leaving. Thompson says they've talked about her exit for months, and Ellison has promised he "will never interfere." Nolte says her departure is overdue because of her Israel coverage. CNN anchor Erin Burnett is sad to see her go. "It will change our network. Christiane is CNN's heart and soul," she wrote.

Sources