To Out or Not To Out

Blogs Battle to Out Anderson Cooper

Posted Wednesday 04 November 01:06 PM By: Brenna Ehrlich

208 comments


"Is Anderson Cooper gay?" That's the big question once again circulating around the Web ... only this time it's not so much is he, but who is he dating and why hasn't he come out yet. Last week, Gawker, Page Six and Perez Hilton started buzzing about supposedly closeted Cooper's rumored new beau, and the glut of attention was accompanied by an almost crushing sense of déjà vu. Why? Because Cooper's sexuality is hardly a fresh topic. As Gawker's Brian Moylan said in an October 29th post on the subject: "Saying Cooper is gay is no longer a scoop. It's not a scandal." So, to get to the bottom of A-Coop's long-debated sexuality, PopEater decided to talk directly to those trying to out the Silver Fox. The chats about Cooper's "glass closet" after the jump!

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[Peter's five cents (or a dime's worth):
I participated in this survey on the left side question only, "Have you heard rumors about Cooper's sexuality before this? (at this moment 51% said 'yes')... Have I heard about Cooper being gay...?!! -- I'm not Jewish but the best expression here is: 'oy-vey!' That's why I voted YES!

As for the second question, "Should the media pry into the sexuality of others?" I didn't vote because I believe the answer is neither 'yes' nor 'not.' The answer lies somewhere in between. The media, and as a matter of fact, all bloggers and everybody, should OUT obnoxious gay people that are, for whatever their twisted reasons, against gay people and against gay causes, think: Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, to name a miniscule number of offender bastards. So, Anderson does not fit in this category, if Anderson does not want to come out of the closet, he is not damaging anybody, that decision is very much his choice and he has his reasons for it. I respect him and continue to call him 'GAY' because I treat him as I would treat any other man: for me men are all gay until proven otherwise. So I will continue to consider Anderson 'gay' because he is a man and it's funny to tease him like this. Besides, I DO think that he IS gay! But that's another story.]

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Perez Hilton

Contribution to the rumor mill: Hilton basically re-reported a Page Six piece that described Coop's Indian vacation with alleged boyfriend, Benjamin Maisani. He did draw a heart on a photo of AC, though, which was very nice.

Why is it important to cover Cooper's sexuality?: "It's not important to cover it, it's just another aspect of who he is. I mean, I don't treat him any differently than I do anyone else," Perez tells PopEater.

Why do people care so much about his romantic life?: "Maybe because he's so secretive about it, it's having a reverse effect. If he just came out, there might not be as much interest. You don't ever really see people talking about Neil Patrick Harris's boyfriend or anything along those lines. You don't see them that often in paparazzi pictures. I mean, sometimes [Harris and his boyfriend] go to events together, sure, but I think if he came out then there would be less interest in his personal life. He would be freer to be himself."

Do you think it's OK for the blogs to out him?: "[The blogs] are not outing him, they're just reporting the facts. That's what I call it, you know. He's just not ever publicly said the words, 'I'm a gay man.' But he's also never said, 'I'm not a gay man.' He's living in a glass closet, so it's all fair game."

Gawker

Contribution to the rumor mill: Brian Moylan's initial post, in which he entreats Cooper to "man up and be our Jackie Robinson," a comprehensive profile of Maisani, pictures and, now, shirtless pictures. In short, Gawker dished a dump truck's worth of dirt.

Why is it important to cover Cooper's sexuality?: "Everybody knows, so why are you keeping up this facade about not talking about it? A lot of people say that it's his private life and he shouldn't have to come out and so on and so forth, but we live in a society, unfortunately, where everyone's assumed to be straight until they said otherwise. I think that a lot of this coverage has to do with the fact that he won't talk about it, and maybe if he just answered the question once and said, 'OK, yes, I'm gay,' then people would stop asking and paying so much attention to who he's going on vacation with and so on and so forth," Moylan tells PopEater.

Why do people care so much about his romantic life?: "I think that there are plenty of gay kids out there who need positive role models and I think that Anderson Cooper would definitely be an excellent one to follow. And I hope that he will show everybody the strength and courage to be an openly gay person in today's society."

Do you think it's OK for the blogs to out him?: "The most recent things we've done haven't outed him whatsoever. He outs himself by going on vacation with his boyfriend. He's a public figure, like it or not, and if he's going to lead the life of a openly gay person, then he is, in fact, outing himself."

Out Magazine

Contribution to the rumor mill: Editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin's controversial 2007 ''The Power 50' issue cover, which featured a model wearing a Cooper mask and gave us a visual metaphor for the newsman's obfuscated sexuality.

Why is it important to cover Cooper's sexuality?: "I think we need to reach a tipping point, and until more people come out, we're not going to reach a tipping point. The tipping point is about there being enough out mainstream celebrities that it no longer seems unusual or strange or distinct. For better or worse, somebody has to be the first or the second or the third until we get to that point."

Why do people care so much about his romantic life?: "Anderson Cooper is interesting because he so clearly doesn't go to great lengths to hide his sexuality. He's obviously comfortable in his own skin. He's not someone who's waiting to come out to his friends and family. I think that's why people are baffled by the fact that he won't publicly acknowledge his sexuality. That's why he's such a target. That's why so many people are disappointed that he won't make that relatively small step of just acknowledging his sexuality and moving on."

Do you think it's OK for the blogs to out him?: "I think it's really important to draw the line between what we were doing with that piece and the kind of stories you're reading about Anderson Cooper on Gawker and other Web sites. We couldn't care less who Anderson Cooper's boyfriend is. That's not my interest any more than it would be my interest to reveal the private details of someone else's relationship. What my interest is, is to expose what I think of as the sort of phony argument around the closet and outing people. I mean, the concept of the closet and outing is a product of homophobia. The closet and outing people can only exist as long as homosexuality is seen as abhorrent and wrong. And since I don't see homosexuality as abhorrent and wrong I don't have any scruples calling it as I see it. As the editor of a gay magazine, I feel that it's incumbent on us to challenge the sort of preposterous nature around the phony outrage of outing people. I mean, switch homosexuality for religion and you begin to see how ludicrous it is."

REindecision 2008 and Beyond (2009)

November 04, 2009

Does it matter that cable news channels allowed pundits to host Tuesday election coverage?

Remember when one of the big controversies during last year's election season was the use of opinionated pundits on MSNBC to report election returns?

That may feel like a quaint memory if Tuesday's election reporting is any indication, as Fox News Channel and MSNBC both folded coverage into their existing, opinionated pundit shows in prime time, assuring that results would be immediately dissected in the partisan terms favored by each channel's host lineup.

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Anderson's 11-03-09 Podcast to come, as soon as CNN post it on his web site.

Still no AC 360º Podcast for 11-03-09 and it is past 7 o'clock in New York. I'll keep checking. Please stay tuned.

Still no Podcast for 11-03-09 and it is 11-07-09 now. For some reason CNN and AC 360º blog skipped the 11-03-09 Podcast... Sorry.

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CNN also offered coverage hosted by its prime time anchors, Campbell Brown, Larry King and Anderson Cooper, but given those hosts' tendency to strike an evenhanded tone, the ideological tilt-o-meter didn't ring much for me.

On Fox, that meant conservative hero Bill O'Reilly spent much of his show chewing over issues with former George W. Bush electoral mastermind Karl Rove (he did have news anchor Bret Baier deliver election news in breaks). Later, Sean Hannity was interviewing former Virginia Sen. George "Macaca" Allen, who lost his bid for re-election after tossing that racial slur at a worker for a rival campaign, talking about Republicans winning back the Virginia governor's office.

On MSNBC, liberal heroes Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow presented returns within their shows as well, chewing over the results with an intensity rarely seen for off year elections, which in St. Petersburg Tuesday drew less than 30 percent of voters -- a typical result across the country.

Of course, this focus on a handful of state and city races -- I couldn't believe Fox News was reporting results in Virginia's attorney general race, as if a national audience really cared -- helps cable news outlets, which see big ratings spikes when the audience perceives big news is afoot.

And given ratings figures which seems to show the ideological focus of Fox News and MSNBC earning prime time viewership ahead of CNN in October, its a development to be expected. But it doesn't offer viewers much perspective or context.

Personally, I agreed with the Daily Show's take on all of it last night -- recorded before the prime time coverage even started:



Posted by Eric Deggans at 10:39:19 AM on November 4, 2009

Hero: Wyclef Jean

November 3, 2009

Video: Wyclef Jean, Yéle Haiti

Posted: 02:33 PM ET

Add a comment

CNN Heroes



More about: CNN Heroes • Haiti

Podcast 11-02-09

AnderFacebooking

Opinion >> Creative Nonfiction / Nov. 2, 2009 at 9:54 pm

I’m not that creepy Facebook dude!

By Lex Singer

A Facebook status or a fan page is an extension of one’s self, much like dorm room posters or stilts. A status can be a revelation or it can be something as simple as “Kevin is boooooooooooooooored.” You can become a fan of things as exotic as Vasto De Gamo or as mundane as string cheese. Either way, it’s fine as long as you have control over your own updates. Sure, I’ve gotten the occasional inevitable comment of “I wish was there was a dislike button,” and at other times, the only person to have liked a status that I thought was pretty clever was my aunt. It’s never too big of a deal, though. Statuses and fan pages seem about as harmless as baby pandas — that is, until a friend of yours hijacks your computer and changes it. Then statuses become the opposite of harmless; they become kung fu pandas.

I will admit that I am very prone to not logging out, which is the first step in every Facebook debacle. I leave myself exposed and for that I’m oftentimes punished. My friends have made me a fan of things like “The Third Reich,” “polio,” and even “microwaves that don’t work.” These are all a little off-putting, but certainly not earth shattering. Yet recently, a friend took it a little too far.

When I went to the library for the night, I left my computer on my bed with my Facebook inevitably open. My friend must have come into my room looking for an Oreo, seen the open Facebook and pounced. He did as he pleased with it and then to make matters worse, evidently took an Oreo on the way out.



Walking back from the library later that night, I checked my phone. I was greeted with a text from my mom that read, “you sure you okay?” and a voicemail from my dad saying “just wanted to let you know and remind you that your pappy and nanny are going to see this.” As I was walking up the stairs, my friend asked me “what’d you exactly do at the library?” Something was up and I hoped to god it wasn’t that I had inadvertently mooned all of References and somehow Anderson Cooper had picked the story up.

I ran to my computer in a panic, and saw something far worse than I could have ever imagined: my friend had me a fan of 79 sex-related pages. Whether it was “sex on safari,” “sex while wearing socks,” or “sex in a hovercraft,” I would be receiving regular updates about it. It would take hours to get rid of all the pages and years to dispel the rumor that I was that creepy kid, either the one who thought this stuff was funny or the one who was in awe of people who enjoyed having “sex with a chimney sweeper.” This was bad, really bad.

There was nothing I could do though; I had homework so I let it be, just waiting for a moment to strike back. I started noticing people shooting me dirty looks while I was walking down Sheridan. While showing a slide of a nude bust of a woman from Ancient Greece, I swear that my ancient art history TA gave me the stink eye. I wanted to send out e-mails over every listserv imaginable that it wasn’t me, I wasn’t the weirdo. But there was nothing I could do.

Then one day, my friend who had single-handedly sabotaged my life and any future prospects of a job or a wife of any kind left his computer on his seat while running to the bathroom during class. I had to act quickly on this golden opportunity as I knew time was fleeting. With the adrenaline rushing, with all of those dirty looks and texts running through my mind, all I could think of was “my butt is itchy.” It wasn’t even true for me at the time, but I thought it would be a death blow; nothing in my mind could possibly be more embarrassing.



So, with a slight smirk, I alerted the whole world to the slight irritation on my neighbor’s behind. Either his friends were wearing cheaply made denim and also were beginning to get a rash or maybe they just found his honesty refreshing, because all of them loved it. In either scenario, I was the loser.

Yet, as the comments continued to pour in, I began to realize that people don’t take Facebook as seriously as I once thought. Every time someone said “you should get some cream for that dude” or “maybe you should try sleeping on your stomach tonight,” I relaxed a little. As demonstrated by his friends, Facebook statuses are not representative of a person. Facebook is such a major part of our lives that we forget we can get rid of it at anytime. If Jason’s status says, “nothing starts the day off like eating poo for breakfast,” it’s probably not true. On the off chance that that morning routine does in fact keep Jason going throughout the day, then it’s probably for the best that people don’t believe him anyway.

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All Facebook references to Anderson, except the one in the article itself, are by Peter.

Take The CNN Challenge

It isn't easy. I took it and, definitely, I'll never make it to Jeopardy! Anderson called my scores, he told me fist, "Smarty Pants," then he saw me and said, and he was right, "You're Sweating Now" and finally, he tried to comfort me, sweet Anderson, "Don't Worry," he said, "you'll have another opportunity, soon." Not much hope, eh? Nevertheless it was fun... with Anderson.

PS: Listen to the ominous music starting from frame one, its very good especially for the occasion, but please don't get scared.


One of the best things about this Challenge is that you get to choose from among 10 hosts, obviously, I chose Anderson; but you could go with Wolf Blitzer, Rick Sanchez, Larry King, John Roberts, the 5 guys; Christiane Amanpour, Kiran Chetry, Campbell Brown, Soledad O'Brien, Robin Meade, the 5 gals.


Go to CNN.com where you'll need to "Register" or "Sign In" it's free.

Then you click on "Entertainment"

In "Entertainment" you'll see this "Take the CNN Challenge" announcement, clik on it:

By clicking on that announcement you'll get a short, cute ad for the Challenge, which you can "skip" if you want to get started Pronto! Pronto means you'll get to choose your "guide:"


Notice that Anderson is in the middle... hmm? It clearly means that he is the best of them and you should choose him! Obviously. Take your time with this group before you choose Anderson and listen to each one of them as they introduce themselves and tell you why you should choose him or her -- they all claim to be the best guide; but we all know who the real "best" is, don't we?

Once you've selected Anderson and you hear his introduction to the game, when he is finished you have to click the "Start" button and you'll see him coming into the room -- No, not YOUR room, although, wouldn't that be phenomenal!


Just pay attention and he'll tell you quite a few sweet nothings... did I say thaaat? Pardon me, my imagination got me too carried away. Anderson will tell you quite a few instructions and then you'll be ready to "begin:"



You'll have three sections with five questions each and 30 seconds to answer each question... Pfeew! It's exhausting. I'd rather be watching Anderson talking sweet nothings in my ear...!

Complicated, you say? Just try the challenge while looking and hearing Anderson talking to you, you'll be all lovey eyes, mouth agape, numb minded, and trying your best to catch his every word hoping to hear "I want to get together with you..." Instructions? Oh! Yeah, the instructions... What?

The Boys' Club

November 2, 2009

Video: Breaking into the "Boys' Club"

Posted: 09:49 PM ET

6 Comments | Add a comment

Beefing Up!

Now we know why Anderson has been working out so hard lately!

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Anderson Cooper's Boyfriend: The Shirtless Edition


In the interest of being your complete source of Benjamin Maisani photos on the internet, we've updated our original gallery with some new shots from gay website Homo-Neurotic. And, no, there isn't a shirt in any of them.


Send an email to Brian Moylan, the author of this post, at brian@gawker.com.

Ahmed or Achmed?

Who cares, Achmed (as I call him) is the funniest terrorist in the world; and his dummy, Jeff Dunham is handsome and talented... or is it the other way around? Who cares? They are a fantastic pair of comics that I recommend to everybody to watch on Comedy Central TV on Thursdays at 9:00 PM ET. FYI, I don't get any commission, I just want to share this information for all to enjoy! Enjoy!

Wouldn't be fantastic if Anderson would interview this terrorist? The amount of information he'd get out of Achmed would be invaluable...!!!


Anderson Cooper: Let me introduce you to the fieriest... ahem, funniest terrorist in the world.

Achmed: Silence. Infidel!

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Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist
(10:47 min.)

From: KrowBatellio

Added: September 29, 2007

Description: =====Where To Buy===== Log onto www.jeffdunham.com, there he has a link to where you can purchase the full dvd. Sorry guys, I won't upload this anywhere or send it to you, go buy the DVD. [Amazon.com has all of Jeff's DVDs]

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go

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Anderson Cooper: Calm down, calm down, everybody. Achmed here...

Achmed: Aggghmed!

Anderson: Huh?

Achmed: It's Aggghmed, not Achmed.

Anderson: Aghghghmed.

Achmed: NO, not Aghghghmed. Infidel. Aggghmed!

Anderson: I've got it. The dead terrorist here is harmless.

Achmed: I kill you!

Anderson: He is full of pearls like this. And to his right is his best friend Jeff Dunham. How you doing Jeff?

Jeff Dunham: I'm doing...

Achmed: Silence!

Anderson: Aghghghmed, your best friend is welcome too...

Jeff: Don't mind him, Anderson. He's always cranky like this.

Achmed: You call me cranky because you are jealous. Anderson and I are more handsome than you.

Jeff: Yes, you are, Achmed.

Achmed: Of course I am. And Anderson here is better looking than you too. As a matter of fact I think I will be going home with him, Jeff. One death life with you is enough.

Jeff: I don't think...

Achmed: Silence!

Anderson: Aghghghmed, be nice to Jeff, he's your best friend...

Achmed: He's not! You are my best friend!

Anderson: But I don't know how to... han-dle you... I'm not a...

Achmed: Silence!

Jeff: Achmed, be good to Anderson, you know he is our host.

Achmed: Our host. What is a host?

Jeff: It means he can throws out...

Achmed: I kill him!

Jeff: Achmed!

Anderson: I wish we had more time, but we'll have to leave there.

Achmed: Yes, Anderson, let's go to your home now...

How Rude!

This is another test: Do you hear any sound from this video or not? I couldn't get a peep out of it; perhaps you'll be luckier than I. On the other hand, this channel: "ImageProfessor" has uploaded only two identical videos, one last week and one today (this one), neither one has sound and only one person has rated last week's video, a lucky fellow who could hear something or perhaps ImageProfesor himself, who knows?

Even Anderson couldn't figure it out:



Besides, Who is LisaMarie Luccioni and who is Letitia Baldrige?
Manners, Please!

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LisaMarie Luccioni on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360
(04:24 min.)

From: ImageProfessor

Added: November 2, 2009

Description: How to & Style

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUpQffQ6yc4

Fox News, Good For Ratings, Bad For Your Common Sense

FYI, IYAI [if you are interested], I only watch Fox News when I am depressed, they make me laugh a lot, their incredible opinions are so striped of reality I can't do anything but laugh at their reasoning, if any, behind those opinions. I watch Bill O'Reilly first and, if I am really, really depressed, I watch Glenn Beck, he is hilarious, especially when he cries; it's so obviously fake that his tears make my eyes also tear... but for the right reason, I am laughing like I could not do it otherwise.

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TV Wars: The Chief Takes on Fox

By Jaye Estrada on Nov. 1, 2009

The very first article I ever wrote for the New University was about how Fox News purports crazy ideas and mistruths. I love when things come full circle.

It’s sort of common knowledge that Fox News leans to the right, However, recently the White House has decided to let it be known that not only does Fox News bat right-handed, but also that they’re not really even in the news game.

This is true to an extent. Like all news shows, maybe with the exception of CNN, Fox’s programming is heavy on opinion. Fox News is exceptionally good at this. They tend to lead in ratings. That’s often the justification for Bill O’Reilly to say that people are becoming disillusioned with other “liberal” networks. But is it really?

When there’s a car on fire, it’s hard not to look. It’s hard not to slow down and take a couple of extra long peeks. If your car is ever on fire, believe me, I’ll be looking. And that’s what Fox News is, a car that is on fire, burning 24 hours a day for your enjoyment. This is why Fox News can attract new viewers who don’t even have to be conservative. People like the ridiculous. Now I’m sure people who watch Fox News won’t say they like it because it’s over the top. They’ll say, “I watch Fox News because it provides me with equipment to fight against the latte liberal, left, socialist, Marxist, communist News Networks” or something to that effect. And that is a fine reason to watch part of Fox News, say the opinion side. However, when you are watching Fox News for “news,” there’s something wrong there.

That’s essentially what the Obama Administration is saying. There’s a blurry line between what is news and what is opinion at Fox News. They’ll lead with a news piece that says, “Will the Healthcare bill bankrupt you?” in that piece, Fox cherry-picks an expert to provide some questionable facts about the health care bill, and then follow-up with some conservative opinion. This cements the view of audience into a conservative strangle-hold. A malleable viewer has no choice but to conclude that this health care bill is bad and that only Republicans know the way.

To be sure, Fox News will sometimes provide “other” people to give opinions, and by “other” I mean moderates, but the deck is clearly stacked against them. Jane Hall, associate professor in the School of Communication at American University, left Fox News because she said there was less debate happening there. When at Fox News, she was often propped up as a liberal; however she stated on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” that she is in fact a moderate. One of their actual liberal commentators, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, was let go for reasons unknown to him and to everyone else.

One of the few at Fox News who doesn’t always toe the line is Shepard Smith, a hard-nosed anchor and reporter like CNN’s Anderson Cooper. While I cannot say that I have watched his program regularly, Smith has been known to show some “fair & balanced” reporting. He even calls out reporters on his show who did not show both sides of the argument. But then, after his program ends, the onslaught of commentators comes.

Some might say that these Fox reporters are clearly distinguished as commentators, so this should not count against Fox News. After all, MSNBC and CNN do the same thing. That is true and probably the crux of the matter. Cable news is driven by opinion. When a person comes home from their 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job and wants to watch what has been happening in the world of news they could watch Lou Dobbs on CNN, Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, or Bill O’Reilly on Fox News. If they plan to stay around for the next hour they can watch Campbell Brown on CNN, Rachel Maddow on MSNBC or Sean Hannity on Fox News. The next hour is more of the same opinion-based journalism – if there is any journalism. So it is true that every network focuses on opinion and this may be problem that is hard to fix. As soon as a cable network changes to more or less pure news their ratings go down and stay down à la Anderson Cooper.

While I am not sure what the solution is to making more news organizations more “newsy” especially when people are actually choosing to watch them; we should not call all cable news organizations equally bad. To paraphrase James Carville, just because I say 50 + 50 equals 101 and the other person says it equals 1,001 doesn’t mean that we are both equally bad. While CNN and MSNBC do show bias in some of their reporting, they do bring on respectable opponents of the other side to argue for their point. The same cannot be said on a regular basis for Fox News. Maybe it’s just because the “other” side doesn’t want to get next to a burning car – it’s kind of hot.

Jaye Anthony Estrada is a fourth-year biological sciences and political science double-major. He can be reached at estradaj@uci.edu.

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"Fox News?... Er... Hmm... N-no, no comment (gulp)."

Does Anderson Know How To Tweet?

I still have not figured out how to get to the most recent "Shot" videos. I finally got to navigate through the New CNN web site, barely. I only can say that I am getting a bit better every day with this new "technology." Please, stay tuned.

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The Shot: How to Tweet -- Or Not

Added On June 5, 2009
Anderson Cooper shows Kelly Ripa how to tweet on "Live with Regis and Kelly".

Mexican Día de los Muertos

Día de los Muertos

Día de los Muertos
in
México


The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls' Day) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day which occurs on November 1st and All Souls' Day which occurs on November 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern holiday to indigenous observances dating back thousands of years, and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl.

Similar holidays are celebrated in many parts of the world; for example, it's a public holiday (Dia de Finados) in Brazil, where many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their loved ones who have died. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe and in the Philippines, and similarly-themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.

Night on Bald Mountain

The Morning After


Harassing to the last moment.

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Dropping his disguise and hiding
his bare body behind Bald Mountain.

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Playing Angel and blessing the people from above.

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