CNN’s Anderson Cooper may be hosting a New Year’s Eve extravaganza for the news network, but that doesn’t mean he’s feeling the spirit. Via Page Six:
…Cooper doesn’t like ringing in the New Year… “Each year it gets worse and worse, and then I always think it can’t get any worse, and then it always does,” he told Paper magazine. “No matter where you go, I think everyone is having a bad time on New Year’s. There’s so much pressure. It’s like amateur night.”
The ever-professional Cooper will be joined tonight by queer-friendly comedienne Kathy Griffin. It’s a match made in heaven…
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Dawster
every year, the funniest thing about CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage is that poor guy (Whatshisface) who is sent down to Key West to cover the Drag Queen Drop.
He get progressively mauled more and more throughout the night. it’s hilarious.
The Ghost of Matt Malone
I hope Kathy’s dream comes true and she gets to hook up with The Coop for a frisky night of unbreakable union, blessed by Herr Pope ’cause it’s good for families everywhere. One word of advice for The Coop, though: No matter what you think you’re owed for the sacred sacrifice of your holy juices, don’t go near her credit cards!!
Patrick Tanner
Anyone that Kathy will try to publically ‘out’ Anderson on live national TV?
Anyone?
Anyone?
The Ghost of Clay Gaykin
Well, Patrick, that possibility must have been on Coop’s mind when he made the above statement. No wonder he’s predicting a bad New Year’s Eve because of the pressure. And by “pressure,” I’m sure he means Ms. Griffin.
Dawster
i don’t think kathy would do that to Coop, Patrick. in several interviews she has expressed distaste for people like Perez Hilton and others who constantly bombard closeted gay celebrities to essentially force them out of the closet publicly.
she has mentioned several times that she thinks that kind of behavior is wrong. she considers coming out a serious, personal issue… and no one should ever be forced out before they are personally ready to make that statement.
Coop isn’t technically IN the closet (as he was out before), he is just silent about the matter. he doesn’t talk about it… PERIOD. for some reason people equate not talking about personal issues with being ‘in the closet’… i’m not sure why. in any case, i have a sneaking suspicion that Kathy will have a grand time dancing about it and throwing out multi-layered jokes about it (it’s what she does best)… but i don’t think she would “publicly out Anderson” or anything that serious.
ProfessorVP
Kathy Griffin standing next to Andy and not saying “gay” is like Morris the Cat passing up a bowl of 9 Lives.
ProfessorVP
Dawster et al, as Nixon used to say, let me make this perfectly clear: There is one, and ONLY one reason Anderson Cooper doesn’t discuss his homosexuality and/or relationships. It is not to ease the mortgage crisis, not to alleviate world hunger, not to help rebuild New Orleans, not to save all the whales or even one whale, not to put America back in the world’s good graces, not to slow down global warming, not to save even one of the approximately five millions dogs and cats euthanized in America every single year, not to fight cancer. It is to keep his income high. Period. Is that his right? Sure. Nobody’s saying it isn’t.
Dawster
Professor… who HASN’T said that? of course it’s to keep his income high. no shit! it’s also to keep the ratings high, AND it’s also to keep the “slate clean” (sort of speaking). why do you think it’s PART OF THE CONTRACT.
i’m telling you, for that about of money (however may millions) i’d shut up about my sex life. who would be daft enough to NOT take the offer? you see, it’s simple for me because i don’t talk about my sex life TO ANYONE. i’m a private person, i love my privacy… i wouldn’t mind being on TV, but my private life is sacred to me. offering me millions to shut up about the subject is like offering me millions to keep on breathing.
and let’s be fair here. when lou dobbs comes out and starts talking about the rough bondage play he and the mrs. engages in on the weekends, THEN anderson cooper can open his mouth and talk about his sex life.
Dawster
and… i think Kathy is going to say things like a “gay ol’ time” and comment about Anderson wanting to go to Key West for the drag queen drop and shit like that.
innuendo is funnier than the outright – and you always go with what’s funnier.
ProfessorVP
I meant nobody is saying Andy doesn’t have the right to protect his money. That’s what I wrote, and that’s true. It is not about protecting his privacy, it is about protecting his income.
Let’s call a spade a spade. No, he is not secretive because of any reason except he is convinced letting his guard down will affect his income. Y’know, like the Vanderbilts are going around asking people, “So… you finished with that pudding cup? We’re terribly poor, y’know.”
It has nothing to do with privacy or personal life issues. Proof? His book in which he laid out his mother’s whorish ways, brother’s suicide, early loss of his father, and other personal stuff. Oddly, Dawster, you use the same line as the straight homophobes use when talking about the personal lives of gay people. “I don’t want to hear about their sex lives, and- (gasp) think of THE CHILDREN.” These haters think coming out as gay means talking about sex, sex and more sex. Big newsflash: Lou Dobbs can say, “Mrs. Dobbs and I went to a Christmas Dinner, and had such-and-such.” That’s fine. But if Andy Cooper said, “My boyfriend, Ramon, and I went to a Christmas Dinner,” some people would cry, “How DARE Anderson Cooper flaunt his sex life in my face!” And that, folks, is what keeps Andy from talking about his personal life like an ordinary straight person would. Fear. The fear of losing money. That is all it is. Money. Period. And because of a lack of role models, new generations of gays and lesbians are ready to go through the same old, tired secrecy to make money.
Is Andy Cooper OBLIGATED to be a role model? No. Nobody’s saying that either. Would be nice, though. He can afford it. Happy New Year, all.
The Ghost of Thomas Roberts' Career
While it’s true that money equals power and prestige, maybe The Coopster is afraid that if he comes out he’ll end up reporting on the anorexic twins at The Insider like his openly gay, ex-co-worker Thomas Roberts has. Ain’t much power and prestige there. Not to mention that 4 days after Roberts started working at The Insider, nude pictures he allegedly posted on Manhunt started popping up on the internet.
Like it or not, in our society admitting that you are gay just possibly might get mistranslated into you are a submissive, less-than-a-man, cocksucking bitch. And while it might help the new bright-eyed and bushy tailed generation of gays and lesbians if The Coopster did come out (Now Pa, don’t beat little Johnny for playing with Barbie dolls, Anderson Cooper just admitted he was queer so it must be okay), more than likely it would just give Bill O’Reilly and his ilk another faggot to throw on his “secular war on Christians,” witch-burning bonfire.
I agree that Mr. Cooper’s decisions might be about fear, but I doubt it’s strictly based on financial fear. But who knows?
ProfessorVP
Exactly, Ghost. If Andy let loose with a tawdry, sexually-charged and gay orgasm-inducing tidbit like, “My boyfriend and I ordered the blackened swordfish,” yeah, he might wind up punished by CNN and CBS by given the gossip-n-fashion beat and then terminated. And maybe later picked up by the minor leagues. The result? Less money. What on earth could be the core of his fear, if not money? And don’t make me snort in derision by invoking “privacy.” If Andy really cared about privacy, he wouldn’t have written his tell-most autobiography that omitted just one thing. Nor would he have said that having silver hair at such a young age is like “premature ejaculation.” Yes, he said that. Some privacy, kids.
hells kitchen guy
If he did a Neil Patrick Harris and said, “I’m gay. I’m happy. End of story,” everyone would leave him alone. It’s only a story because he hides what is obvious to everyone – something despicable in anyone, but especially someone’s whole career is based on his honest reporting and emoting onscreen.
underbear1
Anderson at times looked p*ssed at Kathy, and at times it looked like he wanted a big hook to drag her off the stage with him.
underbear1
They should have paired him with Ellen, and they could see who could be the least queer.
The Ghost of Thomas Roberts' Career
Dear ProfessorVP,
Are you saying that the only thing that motivated Cooper to seek a job as a news anchor was a desire to become wealthier? I mean, with just the Vanderbelt name and connections behind him, he could have collected a much larger salary sitting on the board of directors of a variety of world wide companies if that’s all he wanted. According to New York Magazine, Cooper makes $2 million per year, which is $500,000 more than Jon Stewart or Tina Fey makes, while Charles Gibson and Kelly Rippa each make $7 million. And Sam Champion, the openly gay weatherman on Good Morning America, makes $1.5 million. While Cooper’s $2 million sounds like a lot of money for someone like me living in the Ohio Valley, I would imagine for someone running in New York entertainment and society circles, it’s chump change.
Maybe Cooper loves what he does and enjoys being a world-wide, on-the-scene new anchor. Maybe he’s fulfilling a childhood dream. Maybe the genes he inherited from his dead-at-50 writer/Father and the non-USA-centric world view to which he was exposed by his Mother mixed with the guilt over the opulent lifestyle his ancestor’s lived plus the tragedy of his brother’s suicide and brought out the big “why” in his little head.
Maybe his FEAR is that the career he has worked so hard to achieve would become all about who’s dick he is sucking instead of the truly news worthy events he tries to bring to the attention to the American public, which, in turn, brings meaning to his sad, empty life. But, then again, who knows.
The Ghost of The Jerry Springer Opera
Dear Hell’s Kitchen Guy,
By despicable, do you mean Cooper is so worthless or obnoxious as to rouse your moral indignation because he doesn’t feel particularly obligated to sate your and the American public’s curiosity about something so personal as his sex life?
I don’t get it, but then again I didn’t grown up watching Dr. Phil or Jerry Springer. Don’t get me wrong, if someone believes that coming out will help their personal journey through life then good for them — I admire their bravery. But, conversely, when the public demands that people start outing themselves because it is “obvious to everyone,” like to not do so is some sort of Orwellian sex crime, you totally lose me.
ProfessorVP
Ghost, Anderson Cooper gets $4 Million a year from CNN. I don’t know how much he gets to contribute to CBS’s 60 Minutes, but it probably isn’t peanuts. Anderson also makes personal appearances on his own- again, I don’t know his asking price. If you thought Andy’s total annual income was $2 mill, now you know otherwise.
I never wrote that money was the motivation for Andy to get in the broadcasting biz. All I said was that his motivation for being able to put words together on any topic except his sexual orientation was to keep his income high and nothing more.
I must agree with you, Ghost, about one thing. If Anderson did let the cat out of the bag about being gay (which is like the Planet Jupiter letting the cat out of the bag about being large), and he did a story about the Sudan, most people would think the story was about Anderson Cooper sucking dick. I agree. But let’s say he did…
The next out gay male anchor might do a story about the Sudan, and many people would think the story was about this anchor sucking dick.
The next out gay male anchor after that one might do a story about the Sudan, and a few people would think the story was about this anchor sucking dick.
And the next, next gay male anchor might do a story about the Sudan, and nearly everybody would think the story was about the Sudan.
The Ghost of Gene Roddenberry
Dear Professor VP,
I knew that L. Ron Hubbard had started a religion, but I didn’t know that Gene Roddenberry had, too. Science really has become the genesis of a brave new world.
So in the words of St. Spock, “The needs of the MANY outweigh the needs of the FEW.” By all means let’s go get Cooper and let him serve as a human sacrifice upon the Alter of the Needy Many. After all, it is my sacred right as an American citizen to force everyone else to do what I consider to be in the best interest of the children because I believe that children are our future unless they stray into a temporal anomaly, then they become our past, as it is written.
Live long and prosper.
ProfessorVP
Who said “force?” Name names. Listen, Andy has the right to protect his income, and I have the right to say I think he has enough money already, there’s more to life. So who’s advocating forcing? Since when is free speech forcing?
And I’ve got to say this- this business about starting every post with the words “the ghost of” is evidence that there is an enormous variance between your how hip and clever you seem to yourself, and how you come off to others. More succinctly: you ain’t funny.
The Ghost of Professor VP's Last Gay Nerve
I said force. Right above your last post. As I was parodying your heart-warming parable about how the ripple effect of Cooper’s self-sacrificing outing of himself would impact the bright and shiny careers of future generations of gay TV anchors.
I don’t believe I directly or indirectly quoted you anywhere in my post, but from your reaction to it, I must have hit a nerve. My God, what archery!
ProfessorVP
That wasn’t even a parable. Listen, your sophistication is like Saddam’s WMDs. Both lack evidence. If the best trademark you can come up with is this ghost crap, then I recommend you submit something to Fox. (If you haven’t already.) Y’know, where somebody walks in the door and says “hey” and they blast the laugh-track machine. Say, how old are you anyway? Be honest now.
Andy Cooper saying he just went shopping with his boyfriend isn’t exactly like jumping into a volcano so the gods will provide a good harvest.
Nobody’s forcing or advocating forcing, schmuck.
Nobody’s even saying Andy could pave the way for bright and shining… but yes, parity with straights. Parity would be nice, yes.
The Ghostly Ghost of a Ghost's Ghost,iest Ghost
Hmmm. Fox, you say. Isn’t that the broadcasting company with the cable news hosts who resort to personal attacks when they run out of anything relevant to say. You know the ones I mean. It’s like they think that by puffing themselves up by being insulting and angry that it’s going to help them get their points across, when, in reality, it just makes them look like idiots.
Other than surfing past their cable news outlet, I can’t really say I watch anything on their regular television schedule. But it sounds like you do, though. What would you recommend?
ProfessorVP
I’d recommend you answer the question honestly. Your age please?
The Ghost of Judy Holiday
What on earth would possess you to believe that I would feel obligated to give you any personal information about myself? For all I know you could be one of those on-line child molesters like they feature on Dateline NBC’s To Catch a Predator, or the ringleader of some outlaw, overseas data harvesting organization wanting to steal my identity so you can apply for a loan somewhere and ruin my credit rating.
Sorry ProfessorVP, if that is your real name, but, regardless of my age or your need to know it, I wasn’t born yesterday. Nice try, though.
Alexa
So, as I was out partying instead of watching TV, I assume it all went well for Anderson, and Kathy didn’t out him, and the clueless still believe he’s straight?
ProfessorVP
I thought so. I’m out of this thread. I’ll tangle with bible-thumpers, right-wingers, phobes and assorted nincompoops, but I don’t argue with children. Period.
Blake
Anderson’s right, explain nothing but what you WANT to explain, if others want to judge, so what? Fuck them.
The Ghost of Little Lord Fontleroy
Well, not very successfully anyway.
underbear1
Anderson is the WORST kept “secret” in the History of show business.
If someone wants to be CLOSETED…they should be better at it.
Attending LGBT Journalism Conventions…doesn’t qualify
ray
This is an old thread but ProfessorVP was ridiculous. If Anderson has buckets of Vanderbilt money as you said and even you admit he may have gotten in to the biz for other reasons, why would income be the only thing keeping him quiet? Maybe it has more to do with keeping his dream job at CNN for the staisfaction and rare work opportunities it affords. If just saying you had a boyfriend without saying details of your sex life had no consequences as you’re suggesting Thomas Roberts wouldn’t be on tabloid TV right now.
It’s also worth acknowledging that if he puts his sexuality on the table it will be open season in the media. That’s fine if you are like Rosie O’donnell or Jodie Foster and have been in a long happy relationship. It’s a big problem if you are like Cooper and you play the field while working in a stuffy field where people have morality clauses in their contracts and a need to seem absolutely tame.
Regardless, Anderson lets everyone else out him out him over and over again without making any complaint or fuss. And he doesn’t lie or put up false pretenses. That way it doesn’t dominate him and become the sole topic of discussion as Rupert Everett complained of. If he wants to come out that way instead of releasing a formal statement, I don’t see a problem. In the gay community we of all people should be considerate of a person’s need to choose the right path for them instead of being forced into something they don’t want by people intolerant of difference and deviation.