Christiane Amanpour will sign off from CNN next year as the news channel comes under new ownership by David Ellison's Skydance Corp. The 68-year-old Iranian-British journalist, known for her on-the-ground reporting from the Gulf War and the Bosnian War, announced her decision in a statement shared by CNN CEO Mark Thompson with staff on Monday.
"After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years!" Amanpour said.
Amanpour had expressed concern earlier this year about the impending deal that merged Warner Bros. Discovery with Skydance-owned Paramount in a $US110 billion ($158 billion) buyout completed on October 6. "Clearly I'm concerned, and I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say about a corporate thing that's under way, but I am obviously, as a person, as a journalist with a record, concerned, and I'm concerned based on what's happened to the other things that [David Ellison has] taken over already, like CBS News," she said in a May speech.
Amanpour will end her daily shows across CNN and PBS at the end of this year. She will maintain her weekly CNN show through May 2027 and continue "a smooth transition through June." Thompson said he was "very sorry to see her go, but I've come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally." Skydance co-CEO Ellison asked Thompson to stay on; the two are discussing a new contract as Thompson's current deal expires next year.
Amanpour said she will continue her podcast, The Ex-Files, with former husband James Rubin, and look forward to "interesting new projects down the line." She has spoken openly about her 2021 diagnosis of ovarian cancer and its later recurrence, urging others to "get all the scans that you can."