Anderson Cooper on the 'Drama' at CNN: 'Morale Was Hurt,' But the Network Is 'Back on Track' (Exclusive)

The reporter tells PEOPLE that he hopes CNN is headed in the right direction under new leadership

Anderson Cooper talks about how recent turmoil at CNN — including former president Chris Licht’s short and controversial tenure and the firing of anchor Don Lemon — has affected staff.

Cooper, 56, who has worked at the network for more than two decades, tells PEOPLE that “morale has been hurt by all the drama, and it’s unfortunate, but I think things are getting back on track.”

On August 30, CNN announced veteran news executive Mark Thompson, who worked for the BBC and The New York Timeswould take over as president on October 9, and Cooper is encouraged by the new leadership.

“Sounds great,” says the journalist.

Reports of trouble at the cable news network began in late 2021 when President Jeff Zucker fired primetime anchor Chris Cuomo for privately advising his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as the latter navigated sexual harassment allegations.

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Two months later, in February 2022, Zucker resigned from his position on his own after admitting to having a consensual relationship with one of his employees. “I was asked to reveal it when it started, but I didn’t. I was wrong,” he said in a statement obtained by Politico.

Then in April, CNN shut down its streaming service, CNN+, a month after launching.

Licht, former executive producer The Late Show with Stephen Colberttook over as president that spring, aiming to shake up the schedule and implement other changes, resulting in declining ratings, according to The New York Times.

Anderson Cooper posed for People in Connecticut on September 4th.

In one of the most high-profile shuffles, he moved Lemon from his prime time slot to the morning show. There, Lemon made controversial statements, including his remark that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was “past her prime.”

Lemon was eventually fired in April 2023 – a move he attacked statement about X (formerly Twitter). “After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have had the decency to tell me that directly,” Lemon wrote.

In July, Atlantic published an unflattering profile of Licht titled “Inside CNN’s Fallout,” in which he disparaged the network’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Zucker, his predecessor. A few days later he was fired. The article “was the nail in the coffin,” a source told PEOPLE at the time.

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Cooper now says it’s not ideal to see CNN on the front page.

“It’s never good to be in a place where you read the newspaper in the morning and there are stories about where you work,” says the presenter Anderson Cooper 360.

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Anderson Cooper poses for a photo shoot for PEOPLE at his home in September 2023.

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“Obviously, this is an organization that I care deeply about. They’ve been incredibly good to me, and I think the quality of what CNN does, the correspondents they have, the producers they have, is extraordinary,” he continues.

“It’s best seen when there’s an event and we’re able to get people from all over the world who are there in various countries around the world just to come to a place and report the story,” adds Cooper.

The reporter was vacationing in Colombia with his friend and ex-partner, Benjamin Maisani, 50, and their two sons, Wyatt, 3, and 19-month-old Sebastian, when CNN announced that Thompson was taking over.

Cooper was notified in advance, he says: “I was alerted before it went public and I spoke to him. He obviously has incredible experience.”

For more on Anderson Cooper, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

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