Closeted Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, who made headlines earlier this week for verbally abusing a cocktail waitress, has found love, and in a rather unexpected place: Fox News itself.
The 49-year-old anchor allegedly engaged in a year-long courtship with an attractive 26-year-old production assistant who worked under him on Fox Report With Shepard Smith. Now Gawker is reporting that the two are officially a couple.
Smith’s boy toy is Penn State grad and Fox Business producer Giovanni “Gio” Graziano. According to multiple sources, the couple met sometime after Graziano started working as a production assistant at Fox Report in October 2011 and have been seen frequenting many swanky New York bars, as well as riding around in limousines and watching football games together.
Sounds like love to us.
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Evidently, Smith became concerned about the relationship creating a conflict of interest, so last October, he arranged for Graziano to be transferred to Fox Business Network, where he was made an associate producer for Varney & Co. It’s unclear whether he still holds his position there today.
Since the story broke, Smith, Graziano and Fox News have all remained tight-lipped about the matter, refusing to respond to e-mails, phone calls, or requests for comment.
Now that the cat’s out of the bag, maybe the two lovebirds could go on a double date with Anderson Cooper and his boyfriend. Although, we have to say, not only is Anderson’s reporting better, but his taste in men appears to be, as well.
Photo credit: Gawker.
ouragannyc
Judging by this pic alone, the kid doesn’t look bad.
And why the need to call him a “boytoy”?
Very uncool.
Niall
Well it has to be love, because it definitely can’t be looks going by that face, and it definitely can’t be money since I don’t think news anchors make that much. And with the younger guy’s looks, he could definitely bag a much hotter sugar daddy if that’s what he wanted.
Stefano
Good for him.
DistingueTraces
Fox News is an “unexpected” place for a wealthy middle-aged media figure to encounter an ambitious young man in his industry? Really?
It’s none of our business of course, but to me this seems to conform pretty closely to stereotype in every way.
It’s not as if gay Republicans are an unknown breed.
John Doe
“Closeted Fox News anchor Shepard Smith…”
He is no more closeted than Anderson Cooper was. Everyone knows it and he’s never tried to deny it, especially considering that he dates men in public per Queerty’s own reporting. Considering that he’s not making speeches about sexual orientation I’m not sure why it is even our business.
“…who made headlines earlier this week…”
Headlines in Gawker and Queerty is hardly “making headlines” as the world knows it.
davegun2
Sounds a little like that meme “I found my boyfriend on ChristenSingles.com. Fox news, the new hookup place to be. Ha
B Damion
What is with this obsession with Shepard Smith of late? The man is clearly a private person not a media whore. Why is queerty trying to bully this man out of the closet. Leave him be.
Daveliam
Am I missing something?
Why is Anderson’s taste in men better? The article that you linked to is about Ben Maissani cheating on Anderson when this article states that Sheppard and Gio have been together for a year (with no indication of infidelity).
Was the point supposed to be that Ben Maissani is so “hot” that you’d rather have him, even if he is cheating on you, over the cute PA? Because, if so, then just no! Ben is cute, but so is Gio and I’d rather take a guy who hasn’t cheated on me any day of the week.
Dxley
Can we just be happy for a day or at least not care who sleeps with who? Anderson Cooper seems happy with Ben for reasons only he knows. If this man(Smith) wants to remain in the closet, it’s his choice. Queerty has no right to out him. This website is becoming more and more like Perezhilton.com. Disgusting!
barkomatic
@ouragannyc: The kid looks very handsome which is why, when paired with a 49 year old rich guy makes him a “boytoy”. What Graziano may not yet realize however, is that when you sleep with powerful people and it becomes public — any short term benefits vanish once he dumps you for his next young hottie.
Stache1
I get it. Sheppard Smith is a just minding his own business and @barkomatic: Which is why sad stories of Nick Gruber and movies like “under the calendra” should be used as educational tools by any up and coming boy toys.
Charlie in Charge
Wallowing in mutual self-loathing must make their dates so interesting.
LpLover
He’s cute. He reminds me of actor Scott Speedman from the 90’s TV show Felicity. I thought I read once that Shepard was married to a woman? I guess that doesn’t mean much considering the amount of closeted men that are out there.
TheBigOne
I’d rather go with Stuart Varney…love that British accent 🙂 and I’ve always had a daddy “issue”…
corey
That “boy you” is cute… Those dissing couldn’t get him if they wanted to…. Now closet case, that’s a big eeewwwwww
stfallon1028
They seem like a lovely couple. Closet cases deserve happiness too, sometimes.
John Doe
@stfallon1028: Who says he is the closet? He dates men in public apparently… and has never attempted to deny anything. It is quite possible that everyone HE knows is fully aware. Are you expecting him to inform you, a stranger, of his sexual orientation? Why? What else does he need to make a statement on?
John Doe
ps. Why does Queerty have NINETEEN marketing companies tracking Queerty readers?
Polaro
Good for him. Shame he isn’t all that bright, but if you can score a hottie, all the more power to you. I’m not going to pretend I wouldn’t. You shouldn’t either.
bmwblonde
@DisingueTraces Well, it’s true that Gay Republicans are not an “unknown species,” but what’s with that? I seriously can’t wrap my mind around Gay+Republican. Is this a Clarence Thomas type of thing? Wanting to be “approved of” by the old boys, so badly that you’ll think, believe and do ANYTHING? Republicans only stand for one thing: “I’ve got mine, screw the rest of you.” Gay Republicans must be after the same thing, and the “rest of us” on their conveyor belt to get screws is all their gay brothers and sisters. VERY VERY confused (with a vast side order of unconscious self-hatred). That’s my RX, anyhow. (And yes I’m trained in this stuff, don’t try it at home).
ees901
T@Niall: To the silly guy who says anchors dont make a lot of money. I wish to tell you, Shepard makes over 8 million dollars a year with Fox News, and it worth over 20 million dollars.
You are too quick to judge. Which says something about your character.
Tata
Louis
I dont have any respect for people that intentionally stay silent on issues that impact and harm the LGBT community.
Shepard has rarely if ever touched upon any subject regarding the lgbt community and as far as his political affiliation goes ive met some jerky republicans especially online both gay and straight .
How anyone gay lesbian bisexual transgender or straight could have any affiliation with one of the most hateful misinformed and vindictive nasty networks like Fox News is also something that boggles the mind for me anyways.
Louis
@bmwblonde: Some of them have no respect for themselves the GOPROUD ones prove this over and over especially inviting Ann Coulters venomous ass to their gala or whatever it was called.
You have to be really screwed up or damaged to think promoting and applauding people like her is the right thing much less the logical thing to do especially when people like her constantly desecrate and eviscerate this community with her vile and despicable crap about our community. She has never been an ally and that was incredibly stupid to invite her and just laugh and applaud her BASHING us even more at that dumb gala .
Teleny
I’m always suspicious if young/old relationships str8 or gay. It never seems to work out. The younger person feels robbed of youth and the older person ends up alone & lonely. I think people generally do better for relationships with folks of their own generation.
jonjct
@Daveliam: no, the point is that Cooper, because he’s a lib is somehow better than the fox guy. it the liberal media bias that you hear, nothing to do with hotness.
haringfan1
Boy toy? Seriously? Of course I am partly to blame for even bothering to read garbage like this. Why we, as a culture, are interested in the private lives of “celebrities” baffles me.
litper
I hope it’s money, no ammount of vodka will make me even touch a republican, let alone have feelings for him!
danielstjames
Wow, what a catty comment at the end of that. And I disagree. Smith’s boy toy is quite the cutie!
DistingueTraces
@Teleny:
Did you see the story over at Towleroad earlier today? A 57-year-old and a 92-year-old getting a civil partnership to mark their thirty-seventh anniversary.
Sure, most young people are too dumb for old lovers, and most old people are too boring for young lovers, but if a particular couple finds it works for them — why not?
DistingueTraces
@bmwblonde:
It’s strange, but it’s really no stranger than any other form of deliberate self-blindness.
People of all stripes love to tell themselves self-flattering stories: I’m rich because I work hard / I’m young at heart, not like those other oldsters / I’m a Real Man not like those other swishy homos / I got my citizenship, so why can’t those laborers do the same etc etc etc
BlogZilla
@Niall: LOL! News anchors don’t make that much? Many of them make $1.5million a year or more
middleagespread
Sheppard Smith is not unattractive, he is a 49 yr old man. His boyfriend is a good looking guy. Being middle-aged myself, I would be flattered if I turned a younger hot guys head. I love the eye candy, but I do not think I would be able to handle the age difference. It would make me uncomfortable. Those are my issues. If these 2 guys can handle their relationship, more power to them. I wonder how many people would be happy for both of them if SS was on a different network? I am a crazy liberal, not a fan of Fox at all. I wish them luck.
jrb236
@Niall: Newscasters like Smith and Cooper are very highly paid. Anderson makes over $25,000,000.00 plus per year. Smith also is very highly paid man. Also in the millions. It is reported some make as much as 40,000,000.00. plus per year. They are not in the same category as your evening newscasters. The love of these two great looking guys is wonderful. Lets not guess their motives. I read of many gay men getting married with as much as 20 plus or more years apart. Having been together for many years. My lover was younger by 17 years until he died. I was the older one. We were together over 15 years. Age is often only a number. Love is often found between guys many years apart and last.
DarkZephyr
@jrb236: Excellent post. My fiance is 13 years my junior. Its not because I am some old “troll” (and for the record I am 36 AND for the record I hate the use of the word “troll” for older gay males) that refuses to date his age and is only attracted to young guys, instead, its simply because we are two people who have connected and have deep feelings for one another. He saw me and decided he was attracted to me and he liked my personality and so he very persistently pursued me and eventually he charmed me and I came to care for him very much in return. Our ages are irrelevant. I have been in love with men 13 years my senior as well.
hudson
@John Doe: my guess is they get revenue from it. you using ghostery to see how many are tracking you?
Cam
This is suspiciously timed.
Smith went against the FOX narrative and said that politicians who support gay marriage are on the right side of marriage, He attacked somebody who was defending torture and suddenly there are all of these “Leaks” about him.
Sounds like Fox is trying to hurt his image so they have an excuse to dump him.
Kathukid
Eeeewww. Shep Smith is disgusting. I can’t even stand to look at him on TV.
Rockery
@Kathukid:
I agree. He is ugly.
@Cam:
That’s what I thought and the worst part is Gio will not stay after Shep gets fired and the money stops coming in
stranded
The writer’s a bit snarky. I don’t watch Fox news at all so i don’t know much about Shepard Smith, maybe he deserves, but his alleged bf doesnt. He seems like cute guy who went to a good school and got a job right away. Why make him sound like a Nick Gruber?
aerogens
@Daveliam: The only reason I come back to queerty is the lack of abundant gay web news (or the lack of me being able to find different sites on gay news) anywhere else. Reading all these trivial, shady articles by gay “reporters” makes me ashamed that this website is representing us as if the entire lgbt community speaks and thinks this way. Queerty represents the scum of websites and rarely grinds out newsworthy articles. They really need to step up their professionalism.
(And please stop using boy toy in descriptions for older-younger relationships, Queerty. Thanks.)
aerogens
@DarkZephyr: I wish you long, happy years together! Age shouldn’t be a marker for anything. I’m tired of these judgmental, biased articles.
stanhope
That ‘better taste in men’ comment about Gio was just bitchy and unnecessary. I generally like the column but when you get in the gutter with comments like that, I tend to close the screen and read other columns that I like. Raise the level of your game. Boy toy? Did you do him? Did you talk to him? Then you don’t know sh*t.
2eo
@Cam: Surprised it took 30 odd posts to arrive at the actual answer.
It’s obvious this is the case.
MinnieCopas
as Clarence replied I am alarmed that a student able to make($)8920 in a few weeks on the internet. look at this now,,, http://smal.ly/4WYqe
the other Greg
@Cam: @2eo: Cam makes sense, and I hope the Queerty staff will take the long view on this one.
Obviously what Queerty wants is for Smith to come out, “officially” (and no doubt they’re hoping, on air in the most “drama queen” way possible). Well, that would just result in the rabidly homophobic Fox News audience demanding he be fired. It’s impossible to imagine that Fox would back him up – they’d fire him. How would that benefit us?
Yeah, he might get hired at MSNBC but that’s not the point. I’ve never even seen Smith on TV and, knowing little about him, am starting to have some sympathy for his situation. I’m not sure we should even be calling him “closeted” as the article says. He’s out to everyone he works with, and goes out in public with his bf – and I bet at least half the Queerty readership couldn’t say either of those things! And as even Queerty acknowledges, he has a positive effect in lessening Fox’s homophobic propaganda. Maybe in this unusual case, the semi-closeted status quo is fine?
Anderson Cooper never had a serious reason NOT to come out “officially,” he just had vague platitudes about how a “journalist” should be impartial, blah blah blah – which had been bullsh1t since Cronkite times, anyway, and which, after Cooper became a daytime talk show host, were just ridiculous.
Kangol
@Niall:
Major news anchors on stations like Fox News Channel make millions of dollars. If you do the G00gle, you’ll find he makes about $8 million a year. That’s more than “not that much.” That puts him in the 1%.
Sleeping with a subordinate in the workplace is problematic and can cause real problems, but it appears that rather than a blowup this scenario turn’t up, the younger and the anchor got turned out, and now they’re a twosome. I wonder if Smith will marry him and, de facto, come out of the (glass velvet) closet he’s in.
As for their age difference, it’s not big deal if they’re happy. They are both grown men.
Cee
I dunno why this is news. I never heard of these two and most people probably don’t know who they are. That dude does look like he could be is father though lol And he “sho is ugly.”
Stache1
@aerogens: Hon Queety should not be your only news source to begin with. It’s more of a National Inquirer kind of news. I look at it as just a fun gossipy site but I don’t take it too serious. If you’re looking for more serious Gay News go to sites like Huff Post Gay voices or JMG. There’s allot of them out there.
Stache1
@bmwblonde: As much as I want to argue with your hypothesis I just can’t.
afrolito
@Niall: Top news anchors can make millions a year, and I’m sure Shepard is firmly in that category, since Fox is the top news channel in America….unfortunately.
Bellerophon69
Shep is hot and I wish them both the best of love and luck; too bad the network that employs them both is such a right wing douche planet.
RebeccaConner
Herbert said I’m in shock that a mother able to get paid 6140 bucks in four weeks on the computer. look at this website,,, http://smal.ly/Pqf29
cryonix
From my viewpoint I think Giovanni is way hotter than Anderson’s Man… But you see Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Don’t love based on what your friends think is beauty, love based on what your heart tells you.
vonlmo
The older & wealthier they get, the younger they want ’em. As fer myself, I believe in staying w/n my own generation.
DeeJayMiles
@Niall: turns out he was the highest paid fox personality because he was a favorite of roger ailes. makes you wonder what roger ailes liked to do behind closed doors. in 2006 i think i remember hearing that smith made 7 million a year, while the others made half of that. interesting. i thought he was gay a long long time ago. good for him that he has a cute bf.
nowliveit
What drives the necessity for so many to look at this as just an external deal or manipulation or need for roles or being bought?
Some people truly love each other while being too different in their external bodies for others to accept. Are you with your bf, fwb, lovers, partners, husbands because of a deal, a bargain, a contract or some other external set of factors? OR is their some heart love and connection involved?
There is no way any of us can know what is true. Thus people project their own fears and doubts onto others. I guess some people think it’s a sport.
crowebobby
Two words: Isherwood/Bachardy. You judgmental bitches should have relationships half as successful and long-lasting as theirs. It’s hard not to become self-loathing when I read the barrage of supercilious, hypercritical comments that accompany the announcement of any new couple on the gay scene. There’s always something to sneer at. If this were two perfectly matched 20 year olds, someone would be ridiculing their age and the idea they can possibly know what they want. If this is just a successful boytoy/sugar-daddy pairing, why not be happy for them and leave the moral outrage to Pat Robertson and a Million Moms.