The coppers may have nabbed his Nan Goldin shot, but Elton John seemed carefree at his eponymous AIDS foundation’s Enduring Vision benefit last night.
Anderson Cooper, David Furnish and The Osbournes all took the stage during the Chopard-sponsored event to fight the nasty retrovirus. Elton, of course, employed his sensational singing skills in a duet with kd lang. How gay!
Check out some more of the attendees, after the jump.
Leland Frances
Hi I’m Anderson Cooper and I can be here because AIDS is not a gay disease because, see, I’m not gay. Really, I’m not. Well, actually I don’t mean that. It’s just that sucking cock and taking it up the ass are private and I don’t talk about my private life except when I can make money by writing and talking and pimping stories about the pain of losing my father and my brother’s suicide. Please don’t hate me. Please don’t stop luving me.
Dawster
leland… don’t be a dick. anderson is gay. he’s already come out when he was working on ABC. do your homework.
i’m sorry he’s not as gay as you want him to be… i’m sorry he’s not waving a rainbow flag every time YOU want him to. you’re a really really sad person if someone else’s homosexuality affects your life.
people’s success/failure does not depend on famous faces. the paris/britney followers might think that, but it’s not true. people CAN be more than JUST gay, you know.
and how hypocritical. as soon at Thomas Roberts catered to people like you, he was rewarded by having his naked pictures plastered all over the internet and judgments called down on his character and professionalism. why is no one demanding that Clive Davis come out of the closet? why did no one demand that Merv Griffin come out of the closet before he died?
you can’t have it both ways. personal life or professional life? Anderson has picked his path. who are you to say it’s wrong?
Redd
Thank you Dawster.
If Anderson was the sort to always complain about not having “privacy” or the “rumors” surrounding his gayness, then I’d have a problem with him. But he basically just does his work, lives his life, and doesn’t complain or explain. If he only wants to talk about his brother and father, that’s his right.
Leland Frances
Do YOUR fucking homework, bitch. Cooper has NEVER come out publicly. What other myths have you got to pull out of your ass. And there were people who called for Perv Griffin to come out. Michelangelo Signorile in one of his books more than a decade ago. Read much? Forget books—how about simply your own position on the benefits of coming out in the HRC thread?] Besides, Griffin was no longer on television five nights a week as cowardly Cooper is. R
And, Redd, if you can’t get the contradiction between coward Cooper claiming that he doesn’t talk about ANY of his private life and then taking moeny for talking/writing about every aspect of it EXCEPT his orientation then you have shit for brains. No one said it isn’t his “right,” but it’s my right, too, to call him a coward for it, to say that, as Churchill did [you can Google him] that with power and privilege come responsibility to use them for the betterment of others.
Redd
Anderson’s book was never meant to be a glimpse into his private life as a gay man. It was solely about war, disasters and survival and how the deaths of his father and brother impacted his life, that is all.
I doubt very much that Anderson’s losing any sleep over the people who perceive him to be a “coward”.
hisurfer
Cooper went to a benefit for an AIDS organization. Last I checked that was a good thing. I don’t see the need to use that as a platform to attack him.
Dawster
wow Leland.
i would hardly call it “cowardly” to avoid the scathing judgments of people like you. i would call it wise. i would do it if i was in his position JUST because people make sex SUCH a big deal… who are you? nobody. so what difference will revelations about AC’s sex life have on your own life? none.
As i mentioned, you have to go back to his time on ABC, there were references in news broadcasts points and jokes, it was not an “off limit” subject. He had his boyfriend. he traveled, showed pictures, etc. it was an off limit subject while he was in atlanta at CNN that got worse with his recent move back to new york. THAT’S ALL.
who are you to judge? what have you done with your life that gives you the moral superiority to demand information about his SEX life is wrong? i don’t talk about my sex life at work.
the sad thing is… if he gives YOU and people like you what you want, he still looses. Thomas Roberts proved that. once the sex life is opened it’s Pandora’s box. it’s none of your business and it won’t actually do shit for anyone else in the gay community.
honestly. what a hypocrite. why do you demand to know who AC is fucking, but refuse to demand the kinky bedroom antics of Wolf Blizer, Lou Dobbs, or Christian Amanpour. what are you hoping to gain from it?
you know, there is more to life than just being gay.
Charley
Leland,
Queerty attacks everyone, and Dawster is their “twink” star. Dawster is a rent boy down in Texas and failed an audition as porn star in a Lucas film. Dick not big enough. Ignore them.
ProfessorVP
Leland is absolutely right, and Dawster, you are somebody who doesn’t do his homework. It is very easy to tell when somebody is out. It is not a matter of speculation or interpretation. You’re either out or you’re not. Anderson Cooper is not out. Merely dropping hints and being coy is not being out. And no, Andy is not particularly secretive about his habit of picking up Latin boys. That does not equal being out either. Nor shopping at Joanne’s Fabrics or taking it up the ass. That isn’t being out either. There is only one way to be out, and you know what it is.
I also couldn’t have said it better- if you profit from talking about your mother’s being a slut (Gloria Vanderbilt), brother’s suicide, even your early greying hair as “premature ejaculation” (yeah, he actually said that), and omits one teeny-tiny itsy bit about his life- his sexual orientation- he is trying to have it both ways and is fooling only the most clueless rubes,
in this case Dawson.
The people who blather, “Golly gosh, can’t a celebrity have a PRIVATE life? What about a person’s right to PRIVACY? Can’t a person have a PRIVATE telephone line? Can’t a person be a PRIVATE in the Army?”– they are simply repeating the standard Republican line: Shut the fuck up if you’re gay and we’ll tolerate you.
Nobody, Dawson, nobody expects all this privacy crap on straight people, or people they perceive to be straight. If you want to keep kidding yourself, good luck.
hisurfer
“You’re either out or you’re not. ”
Things are rarely either/or.
Te presento Kim Coco Iwamoto, http://kimcoco.com/, one of our local elected officials. You won’t find a mention of her gender on her website, and she doesn’t toot the big old gay horn in the media.
And you’d be laughed off the island if you called her “closeted.”
hisurfer
“nobody expects all this privacy crap on straight people” Actually, I felt that way about Bill Clinton and that stupid cigar.
Dawster
32 years old is still considered “twink”? i’m quite flattered. (next week is my birthday too!! just what i needed to cheer me up!)
ProfessorVP, i remember watching AC WAY back in the day on ABC. the guy was gay. he was out. there was no big deal. I remember that clearly because we would joke about it. when he moved to CNN we also joked “he ain’t gonna be gay anymore.” and we were right.
the gay community is cut-throat, and scandal-loving. the diversion from Thomas Roberts “the professional news anchor” to Thomas Roberts “naked with his ass in the air pics” is proof of that. we want other gay people to succeed, but we also want them flawed. if they don’t meet our standards, we ultimately want them to fail. maybe it’s jealousy, maybe it’s envy, i don’t know.
i think most people bitch because we are working on AC’s terms, not theirs. he hasn’t given answers or an arguments – he reveals only what he wants, nothing more… and i think that pisses most people off. it’s a once sided argument.
i keep asking myself what i would do in his situation. i would be out and proud… but DAMN, if even ONE little thing fucks up… it’s all downhill.
ProfessorVP
Surfer, I’m sure Kim Coco is a nice person, but except for your lil’ neighborhood, nobody knows her. We’re talking about Andy Cooper here. Regarding Bill Clinton, just in case you didn’t know it, he spoke at schools in praise of… (drumroll) abstinance. This great Defender of Marriage and he who gaveth Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell… do I care if he got busted?
Dawster, 32 can be a twink now because the median age keeps increasing. 32 is the new 24, 38 is the new 31, 42 is the new 35, 50 is the new 41, and Hillary is the new Bush.
A little pop quiz: Which of these stars was/is out?
a) Liberace b) Rock Hudson c) Little Richard
d) Kevin Spacey Your answer? _____
Dawster
whoever said 30 is the new 20 LIED LIED LIED. i’ve got hair poppin’ up in places i didn’t even know i had. the metabolism is declining, can’t drink like i used to… i’ve discovered the beauty of naps… music has become “a little too loud”…
LIES!!
Dawster
professor, none of those people were ever “out”. and if Kevin Spacey did come out… his behavior (like getting beat up in a london park) couldn’t be covered over so easily. popularity needs to come with defense mechanisms.
one point of hypocrisy (in my opinion) – Clive Davis (picture shown earlier this week) is THE most powerful man in the music industry, he had more money than god, more influential than AC will ever be, and had gained more time in front of the camera thanks to the popularity of American Idol. he’s also GAY. whenever i ask why people aren’t demanding he come out… nobody listens. it’s a skipped over topic. nobody cares.
all Queerty has to do is show a PICTURE of Anderson, and everyone goes from zero to bitch in 1.5 seconds. there’s no middle ground, there’s no understanding of the pressure or the reality of living in that world… there’s nothing – just BOOM! “arf arf arf… arf arf arf arf arf…” nonstop.
it’s THAT which i find confusing. i can NEVER judge a person if i have no clue what their situation is. i will never judge someone who is contributing to an AIDS organization, donating time and money to rebuilding New Orleans, and a host of other charitable work that puts me to damn shame.
if you don’t watch AC360 or 60 minutes, nothing AC does will effect you. if you DO watch AC360 and 60 Minutes, you realize there are more important things in the world right now that need our attention (NOT involving O.J. Simpson).
Alexa
Dawster, I seem to recall Perez writing something about Clive Davis one time but nobody caring. And that’s the problem, people only care about celebrities, not those behind the scenes. Sure, it would make news if Davis came out, but most people have no clue who he is.
I’d love if more celebs came out, and I don’t see anything wrong with encouraging them, but forcing people out who have never done anything to hurt us is just wrong IMO. And it doesn’t help. Anderson and Jodie are well respected and well known and it would be great if they came out, but we would be better served by concentrating on outing hypocritical politicians and religious leaders who actively hurt us – though, really, they seem to be doing a pretty good job all by themselves lately.
ProfessorVP
There’s no disputing that Clive Davis is a powerful and imposing player in the music business and there’s also no disputing that most people never heard of him and/or wouldn’t recognize an uncaptioned photo of him. So we are talking apples and oranges here.
Correct, Dawster, on pop quiz. None of the aforementioned, including over-the-top Liberace was out. You know what out means. It means saying, “I am out,” or “So, last night I said to my partner Ramon…” or something equally unambiguous. Andy Cooper ain’t out. Of course, if you can provide a link that disproves that, I’ll have to admit I was wrong.
Redd
“but we would be better served by concentrating on outing hypocritical politicians and religious leaders who actively hurt us”
Agree, Alexa. Priorities. There are far more important issues out there than how Anderson Cooper chooses to handle his personal life.
hisurfer
“Surfer, I’m sure Kim Coco is a nice person, but except for your lil’ neighborhood, nobody knows her.” That’s a shame professor, because Kim made gay history, and when the books are written I’m sure she’ll be mentioned. I’d wager that it will be more than they’ll write about you, me, or Mr. Cooper.
My lil’ neighborhood ain’t so bad. You didn’t strike as someone who only values what happens on the coasts, or is shown on tv. I might have been wrong.
janiecat
Leland – Don’t understand your animosity toward AC. You have real anger and power issues as is tellingly obvious by the way you respond to anyone who doesn’t agree with you. No, I’m not a shrink, just making an observation about someone who is obviously intelligent, but chooses to disguise that with crass and knee-jerk reactions to different points of view. A person’s sexuality should ALWAYS be their personal business whether that person is a celebrity or not. What other personal aspects they choose to reveal are a privelege for anyone else to learn. You seem to think that it’s your right to know everything about a person’s personal life just becase of their celebrity. In fact, you not only demand that right, you want to prevail over how they live that life, or name calling and general derision ensue. Celebrity does not equal public entitlement.
Now before you wear out your keyboard with expletives, stop and think about what i’ve said. What are you really so angry about? Because I don’t think it’s Cooper.