It’s no secret Rufus Wainwright‘s a friend of Dorothy, but do you know who he’s not friends with? Anderson Cooper.
The singer sat down with Spin to discuss the joys of being out, but makes sure to point out that some capitalize on the closet:
If they stay in the closet, they’re going to make a lot more money. I go to the same gym as Anderson Cooper. When I look at him lifting those 5-pound weights, it makes me think, ‘He’s just trying to live his life and be all that he can be.’ But he still goes to the gayest gym in New York.”
Ouch. That’s gotta hurt poor Cooper.
Sensing the CNN anchor’s heartbreaking, Page Six takes on Wainwright’s whining. The gossip monger’s snipe:
Actually, the David Barton Gym on West 23rd is the gayest in the city. Cooper works out at the Equinox at Time Warner Center. And 5-pound weights are for 98-pound weaklings.
Sounds to us like Page Six has a bit of a crush on the Coop.
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Paul Raposo
“Sounds to us like Page Six has a bit of a crush on the Coop.”
Sounds like Coop made a phone call.
BillieXX
Why is this noise even important?
nycstudman
oh fer crissakes, if coop just did a neal patrick harris and said, ‘i’m gay. i’m happy. end of story,’ no one would care. the only reason people rag him endlessly abuot it is because he’s such a self-centered dipshit.
mrsmith
Rufus is such a Bitter Betty. Why can’t we all just be nice? Oh well.
cckerins
Cooper is in a position to make a difference in how people perceive homosexuals, that is if he is queer of course. If he is gay and continues to remain in the closet, he is bowing to the consensus that gay=shameful, and that is not OK.
Not all homos are flighty, lisping and ridiculous, chartreuse wearing princesses (although every Friday night I like to have a COSMO! ), some of us are capable of being journalists, doctors, teachers and even construction workers and athletes. For him to continue to live a double life is disheartening and disrepectful.
If every LGBT person in this country took a sick day, let’s say on Ocotber 11th (National Coming Out Day) the country would SHUT DOWN…maybe we should seriously think about that!?? Who’s with me?
Rob
Rufus might be bitter, but at least he is out and public. It’s frustrating because you know that as soon as Anderson is forced from the closet by the tabloids, he’ll be hailed as the new gay hero/icon, without having done anything.
Alan down in Florida
I watched Anderson do an interview the other night having returned to New Orleans to check on preparedness for another Rita-like storm. I almost couldn’t tell you what the interview was about because he was wearing a tight black polo that left his biceps exposed and continually had his arms positioned to show them off to their best advantage, while his chest showed off on its own. Forget professionalism (which is something he does often and which made his career), if he isn’t as gay as he looked during that interview then he did a lousy interpretation of butch.
Get a full frontal shot of Anderson and people will stop talking about his orientation once and for all.
Dawster
When will everyone realize that what Anderson Cooper does has little relevance as to gay people? Can younger gay boys look up to him? Yes. Is he a good example of what gay people can become? I suppose. Can further the acceptance of gay people in the world? Maybe, but not really.
Just like people can go up, they can also come down – and that’s the big problem with looking at famous people as examples worthy of imitation or reverence. You will never be able to win the argument of how Anderson Cooper’s out/not out status effects you personally. Why?
Because it’s the same argument that anti-gay marriage people make: what two men do OVER THERE across the street affects my marriage OVER HERE in my personal life. We all know that’s not true. Success and failure in marriage is a personal achievement or collapse. Similarly, Anderson Cooper’s sexual orientation and position in the world OVER THERE on television has no effect over my own day to day living OVER HERE in my personal life. My success and failure is on my shoulders… not his.
The argument would have been valid about 20 to 50 years ago… but not today (don’t get me wrong, we still have a long ways to go).
He has not presented being gay as being shameful at all. When there is a “gay†story, or when there is a “gay sensitive†issue, he reports it (i.e. Virginia Tech coverage, Thomas Roberts molestation interview). CNN started covering the Key West “Drag Queen Drop†every New Years Eve after Anderson Cooper took over the New Year’s Eve report.
What Anderson Cooper has presented is that there are more important things than being gay… and there are. We are all human beings first, and there are human issues that far outweigh one person’s need. He’s doing a job of a professional, and he’s doing it well.
It’s such a cheap trick whenever out gay celebrities are tired of being asked the “gay†questions to divert attention by attacking other people. For what reason? It makes the gay community look inconsistent and bitter.
Eminent Victorian
Anderson Cooper is a preening buffoon. When he graduated from journalism school his own lack of ability was so great it overshadowed his famous mother’s name, and the major news outfits wouldn’t touch him, so he went to work for that inane Advertising-with-little-bits-of-news-zapped-directly-into-paying-classrooms joke, Channel One. Then he did hosted a gameshow. Let’s not sit here and pretend Cooper is a legitimate journalist all of a sudden just because the ever-slipping CNN bought itself a pretty dimbulb who is at least smart enough to know his stock would plummet if he were an out gay man.
Eminent Victorian
Actually, I revoke my final statement. Cooper’s stock wouldn’t plummet if he were an out gay man. I think he’d be tagged as some hero by CNN. Which would of course be ridiculous, and which would of course make most of the intelligent LGBT community throw up. “Hurrah for the Mika of journalism!” I realize I have to separate my distaste for Cooper from any relevance his being out might have, even if I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what Rufus said. I’m much more in favor of a talented, out homo than I am of a closeted, talentless one.
nycstudman
Sam Champion has never officially come out. He was slowly outed in the Internet age, and eased out of the coset in his own good time. I remember casually a galpal he was gay and she was shocked. I was shocked she was surprised. Anyway, the point is, he was kindasorta outed and now Coop’s being outed and he might as wel just come the fuck out of the closet already.
Alan in Florida: I saw him at the Roxy shirtless once when he was just a journaeyman reporter on CNN. If his biceps were bulging on TV, he must be hitting teh gym hard, because that night he was SKINNY.
cckerins
An additional comment, if I may. We don’t have a problem reporting on heterosexual public figures’ private lives, relevant or not, so why is there a problem when it comes to GLBT “outing”?
There IS a difference and gay people who think outing is cruel need to realize that stigma only goes away when something is confronted and discussed OPENLY not hidden away. We all know whether straigts on TV are married or not…why not homos?
Redd
Rufus ain’t shit. Anderson’s got more brains and talent in his long slender fingers than that idiot has in his entire body.