CNN star Anderson Cooper told colleagues he doesn’t want to work for Bari Weiss: report
Anderson Cooper told colleagues he doesn't want to work for Bari Weiss: report
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Skip to main content MediaCNN star Anderson Cooper told colleagues he doesn’t want to work for Bari Weiss: report
By Ariel Zilber Published June 29, 2026, 9:40 a.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on GoogleCNN star Anderson Cooper has privately told colleagues he does not want to work for CBS News boss Bari Weiss if she is ultimately put in charge of the cable network following Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a report.
Cooper has made his feelings known internally as Paramount chief executive David Ellison weighs whether to give Weiss oversight of both CBS News and CNN once the roughly $111 billion merger closes, the New York Times reported.
Cooper’s reported opposition comes as other top CNN figures are also signaling resistance to a potential Weiss-led future.
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According to the Times, CNN chief executive Mark Thompson has told Paramount officials he will not share oversight of the network with another executive, while longtime anchor Jake Tapper recently met with Ellison in Los Angeles.
The Times said it was not known what the two men discussed.
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The report says Ellison remains supportive of Weiss despite months of upheaval at CBS News, where she has overseen a sweeping overhaul of the news division since taking over as editor-in-chief last year.
One option under consideration would pair Weiss with a seasoned television executive responsible for the operational and financial side of the combined news organizations while she retained editorial oversight, according to the Times.
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Cooper’s reported comments come after his own complicated history with Weiss at CBS News.
Earlier this year, Weiss approached Cooper about succeeding the tandem of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBoise as anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” according to previous reports. Cooper declined the offer, and the job ultimately went to Tony Dokoupil.
Not long afterward, Cooper also chose not to renew his contract with “60 Minutes,” ending a nearly two-decade run as a correspondent for the iconic newsmagazine while remaining at CNN.
Publicly, Cooper said he wanted to devote more time to his family and his work at CNN.
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But multiple reports indicated he was also uncomfortable with the direction of CBS News under Weiss, whose tenure has been one of the most turbulent periods in CBS News history.
In May, Weiss dismissed executive producer Tanya Simon, correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, senior executive producer Draggan Mihailovich, veteran producer Guy Campanile and digital operations chief Matthew Polevoy as part of a sweeping restructuring of “60 Minutes.”
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The shakeup culminated in the firing of veteran correspondent Scott Pelley after he publicly confronted Weiss and newly installed executive producer Nick Bilton, accusing Weiss of “murdering” “60 Minutes” and saying she had been “brought in to kill it.”
The uncertainty has spread to CNN as Ellison moves closer to completing the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Times reported that veteran CNN executive Amy Entelis has become a sounding board for anxious anchors and correspondents concerned about the network’s future, while technology journalist Kara Swisher said she would stop working with CNN if Ellison replaced Thompson, citing the upheaval at CBS News.
CNN referred The Post to Paramount for comment.
The Post has sought comment from Paramount, Cooper, Weiss and Thompson.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
