Gay journalist Anderson Cooper announced earlier this week that he was leaving his gig as a correspondent for CBS’s 60 Minutes, and a staffer for the network is explaining how his departure was a direct rebuke to queer CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.

“It really has to sting for Bari,” the unnamed CBS News staffer told Zeteo. “The person she wanted for the Evening News anchor chair is choosing to leave CBS altogether because of her.” That staffer said it was “a f**k you Bari.”

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Cooper, who is also a host on CNN, announced earlier this week that he would not be returning to 60 Minutes on CBS. He cited wanting to spend more time with his family.

“For nearly twenty years, I’ve been able to balance my jobs at CNN and CBS, but I have little kids now, and I want to spend as much time with them as possible, while they still want to spend time with me,” he said.

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CBS News also released a polite statement about Cooper and the “unforgettable stories” he told. “We’re grateful to him for dedicating so much of his life to this broadcast, and understand the importance of spending more time with family. 60 Minutes will be here if he ever wants to return,” it said.

But Cooper has been a dad for several years now, and his announcement came just months after CBS put Weiss – known less for her experience in journalism and more for her anti-woke political ideology – in charge of news at the network.

Moreover, Cooper just signed a new contract with CNN, where he’s a host. He will also continue to host his podcast, All There Is.

It’s just the latest shake-up at CBS News under Weiss, who was installed as editor-in-chief by Paramount Skydance CEO and presidential ally David Ellison last year. 60 Minutes has been in the midst of a credibility crisis since CBS parent company Paramount’s former owners, the Redstone family, agreed to pay $16 million to the president to settle what was widely considered to be a frivolous lawsuit. The settlement was seen as an effort by the Redstones to cozy up to the president, whose FCC cleared the way for the sale of Paramount to the Ellisons last year.

Since taking over CBS News, Weiss has further tarnished the organization’s reputation. In December, she axed a 60 Minutes story that was critical of the Trump administration’s deportation of hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Last month, reports surfaced that under Weiss — who is out as queer but opposes gender-affirming care for minors as well as trans women and girls’ right to participate in women’s and girls’ sports — CBS News would begin using the term “biological sex” in its coverage of trans issues. The move is a departure from guidance from the Trans Journalists Association (TJA), which encourages the use of “assigned sex at birth.”

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