Brooke Baldwin Announces She’s Leaving CNN: ‘There Is Just More I Need To Do’

Anchor Brooke Baldwin is leaving CNN after more than a decade at the cable news network. 

Baldwin announced her upcoming departure during an on-air segment on Tuesday, sharing that she will be leaving the network in April. The anchor joined CNN as a freelancer in 2008 before fulfilling her “dream” of becoming a full-time correspondent, she said. 

“I remember I scribbled my name on a Post-it note and stuck it outside of this temporary office, determined to fulfill my dream of becoming a full-time CNN correspondent,” she said. “I wanted to be part of the best of the best in cable news and journalism, and as a native Atlantan, this would be my hometown team.”

Baldwin later thanked her CNN colleagues and viewers: “I am so grateful for your loyalty and passion for the world we cover.”

The anchor also expressed her gratitude to viewers who sent her messages of support when she had COVID-19 last year. Baldwin announced that she had tested positive for the virus in April. She returned to work weeks later, describing her time with coronavirus as “relentless, scary and lonely.” 

Baldwin’s work at CNN over the years has included coverage of the 2016 presidential election; reporting from places overseas, including Europe, Africa and the Middle East; and visiting Newtown, Connecticut, where she reported on the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, her CNN bio states. 

The anchor, who’s been working on a book titled “Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power,” said on-air that she is not jumping into a new job right away and that she’s feeling “vulnerable.”

“There is just more I need to do, more I need to do outside of this place ― outside of the walls of this place, a place I have been privileged to call home now for 13 years,” she said. “And yep, we are still in a pandemic, and no, I don’t have a job I’m jumping right into. And yes, yes, I’m feeling very vulnerable.”

Baldwin’s colleagues, other journalists and celebrities wished the anchor well over Twitter: