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“You Could’ve Given Me A Heads Up”: CNN Host Anderson Cooper Opens Up On How He Forgot To Tell His His Mom He Was Coming Out

Date June 6, 2019 17:16

Author By Charlyne Baker

Anderson Cooper is opening up about how he came out as a gay. The CNN host is known for guarding his private life very carefully.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by andersoncooper (@andersoncooper) on

TV's first openly gay prime time anchor

Back in 2012, Anderson came out publicly as a gay man. His revelation confirmed what many had been suspecting to be true, but he never addressed it.

After years of silence on his sexuality, Anderson finally came out, becoming the first prime time anchor on a major network to come out as gay.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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The 42-year-old made the disclosure in a statement on Andrew Sullivan’s website, saying:

The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.

It’s become clear to me that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something. This is distressing because it is simply not true

Anderson forgot to tell his mom

It wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone when Anderson confirmed that he’s gay. In fact, his friends, family, and colleagues had long known about it, but the TV host forgot to tell his own mother.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Gloria Vanderbilt (@gloriavanderbilt) on

Anderson had published the announcement of him coming out as gay on the website of his friend, Andrew Sullivan, and had traveled to Africa for a shoot where he had no cell phone service for three days.

Speaking on the funny reaction from his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt when she read about him coming out, the CNN host said:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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But as soon as I got to Johannesburg, my phone lit up. And I’d realized I’d forgotten to tell my mom I was making this announcement. I’d come out to her a long time ago, but she was like, ‘Oh, you could’ve given me a heads up!'

How did he tell his mom

Before he came out publicly, Anderson had a discussion with his mother decades earlier where he revealed to her that he is gay. A conversation which Anderson says he 'regretted' for years.

Anderson says he immediately regretted the discussion because he included the phrase “I think I am” when coming out despite being happy with his sexuality. He said his mother concluded that he wasn’t sure. The news anchor, who came out to his mom at the age of 21, said:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Gloria Vanderbilt (@gloriavanderbilt) on

She accepted it and met boyfriends I had and life continued, but we never talked about the actual moment that I had come out to her because we both had different perceptions and understandings of what I had said.

His words did have an impact!