Joe Rogan’s name has been floated around 60 Minutes at the same time CBS News is cutting loose some of the program’s most recognizable figures, but there is still no confirmed evidence that the podcaster is being lined up to replace Anderson Cooper.
The confirmed story: Anderson Cooper has left 60 Minutes after nearly two decades with the program, and CBS News published his farewell in May. Cooper remains with CNN, where he continues to anchor Anderson Cooper 360°.
The turmoil deepened this week when CBS News fired longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. CBS News reported that Pelley was dismissed after a tense exchange with newly appointed executive producer Nick Bilton during a staff meeting.
Pelley’s firing added to a wider crisis at the newsmagazine, which has seen several major departures. Pelley then accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of lying to staff, hours after she told the network’s morning editorial meeting that leadership had tried to “find a way back.”
His exit followed internal backlash over CBS News leadership changes. The Guardian reported that Pelley had criticized management after the dismissals of executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
Enter Rogan
That context has made the Rogan rumor travel further than it otherwise might have. RadarOnline reported in March that CBS was considering Rogan as a possible 60 Minutes addition after Cooper’s exit, citing unnamed sources.
The distinction matters because Rogan would represent a dramatic shift from the traditional 60 Minutes correspondent model. Cooper, Pelley and other longtime correspondents worked within a heavily produced newsmagazine format built on edited field reporting, institutional review and CBS’s legacy-news reputation. Rogan’s influence comes from a different media economy: long-form podcast interviews, a large direct audience and a personality-led format that does not operate like broadcast news.
CBS News is now facing a strategic question bigger than one empty correspondent seat. Business Insider reported that the program’s remaining full-time correspondents include Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim after the recent departures.
Rogan’s potential association with 60 Minutes would also carry political baggage because of his recent proximity to President Donald Trump. Trump appeared on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, in October 2024, and Rogan endorsed him the day before the 2024 election after saying Elon Musk had made a compelling case for Trump.
The Times noted that Rogan was seen as a factor in Trump’s outreach to young men during the 2024 campaign.
Since then, Rogan has not functioned as a straightforward administration ally: he was among prominent Trump backers criticizing the president’s tariff policies. But earlier this year, Trump officials were trying to court Rogan even as he criticized the president over the Iran war.
For CBS, a Rogan move would be a high-risk audience play. It could bring attention from viewers who do not usually watch network news, but it could also intensify concerns that 60 Minutes is being reworked around personality, politics and digital reach rather than its traditional reporting structure.
For now, the factual record is limited. Cooper has left. Pelley has been fired. CBS News is in a major shakeup. Rogan’s name has appeared in anonymously sourced reports. But there is no public confirmation that CBS has offered Rogan a role, that Rogan is negotiating with the network, or that he is set to replace Cooper on 60 Minutes.
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