Christiane Amanpour Is Leaving CNN After 43 Years, a Partnership She Called “Longer Than Many Marriages”
by Sari Moon · Thought CatalogBy Sari Moon
Updated 7 minutes ago, October 21, 2026
Christiane Amanpour told viewers Monday she’s ending her daily CNN show at the end of this year and leaving the network next June, closing out 43 years she described on air as “my partner of 43 fantastic years, longer than many marriages.”
The 68-year-old chief international anchor said she’d thought about the move for months, through “a few sleepless nights,” before deciding to separate from the network she joined in 1983. Her daily program on CNN and PBS ends this year, with a weekly version continuing through the transition to June.
She framed the departure around the state of her profession. “I’ve always been fiercely independent and I will continue to be that for you for as long as I am here and beyond,” she said, pointing to “unprecedented pressures from all sides, political, financial and also from the rising dangers in the field.”
Amanpour built her reputation in war zones, from the first Gulf War through Bosnia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Iran and Ukraine. It was Bosnia that produced the line she’s become known for, one she repeated as her sign-off: “always be truthful, not neutral.”
She isn’t stepping away from the work entirely. She’ll keep reporting and traveling through June, and she’s continuing her podcast with ex-husband Jamie Rubin. CNN chairman Mark Thompson called the timing right “both personally and professionally.”
Amanpour, who has been open about ongoing treatment for ovarian cancer diagnosed in 2021, gave no single reason for leaving. “Thank you all for watching, listening and engaging with me for all these years,” she said, “for trusting me and this show.”
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