During & After Giggling

Posted at 11:32 AM ET, 08/18/2011

Anderson Cooper can’t stop laughing during segment on ‘public urinator’ Gerard Depardieu

By Jen Chaney


Anderson Cooper: why so not serious on CNN last night? Blame it on the Depardieu. (ANDREW KELLY - REUTERS)
Anderson Cooper’s RidicuList, a lighter-side-of-the-news staple of his program on CNN, got so ridiculous last night that it finally got the better of him.

During a pun-filled segment devoted to Gerard Depardieu’s recent urinating-on-a-plane incident, Cooper gamely stifled laughter while pumping out commentary that involved phrases like “an actual thespian actually thes-peein’” as well as a particularly clever play on words that involved Depardieu’s role in “La Vie en Rose.” (That movie was about Edith Piaf. You can probably guess where that one went.)

But at the 2:30 mark in the video below — when Cooper says the cleaning crew should “thank their lucky stars it wasn’t Depar-doo” — the distinguished journalist once hailed for his investigative reports during Hurricane Katrina starts giggling like a preteen girl with braces and a vicious Justin Bieber crush.

Watch below and see. It’s something to behold.

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Posted at 12:27 PM ET, 08/23/2011

Anderson Cooper explains his live laughing fit

By Jen Chaney


Anderson Cooper: well aware of his giggle issues. (BRENT STIRTON - CNN)
When Anderson Cooper cracked up during his Gerard Depardieu/pee-pee-pun-filled segment on CNN last week, the clip went viral. Why? Because no human can resist the powerful combination of Cooper’s decidedly goofy giggle and a French actor’s lack of urinary restraint.

But apparently the popularity of the video caught Cooper by surprise.

“I went to bed telling myself, ‘I doubt anyone will notice the giggle fit,’” the newsman tells Entertainment Weekly. “I woke up and in the elevator the first thing my building super said to me was, ‘What’s wrong with your laugh?’ It could be worse: I could have a viral video in which I throw up on a guest or drunkenly eat a hamburger on a bathroom floor. Not that I’ve ever done either of those things. Not yet at least.”

That’s right, Cooper. Keep your viral video options open.

As for the nature of that laugh — which is decidedly less distinguished than Mr. Cooper’s reputation — he says, “I’ve always giggled like a 13 year-old girl at a Justin Bieber meet and greet. There’s nothing I can do about it but I’ve never not been able to stop.”

Actually, I went with the simile, “giggling like a preteen girl with braces and a vicious Justin Bieber crush.” So close enough. Relive the tittering via the clip below.