08/17/2007
Anderson Cooper: Love Notes from the West Village
A reader sent in this photo. He writes:
"I was walking my dog this morning and came across this bit of graffiti scrawled on the West 10th Street side of the Jefferson Market Library. I thought is was rather amusing given what it says about 'manic Anderson Cooper.' I also thought it was funny since it's just down the block from the former Ninth Circle Bar where Edward Albee supposedly encountered 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe' scrawled on a bathroom mirror giving him the inspiration for the title of his play of the same name. Perhaps one day we'll see the Broadway production of 'I Love Manic Anderson Cooper.'"
UPDATE: Apparently it's the graffiti artist that's a bit manic (or named "Manic"). Another reader, Ben H., writes in that the graffiti has been going up all around Chelsea, and sends us these shots he's been taking of it. Not a lot of context but I appreciate the use of color.
Posted 12:20 PM EST by Andy Towle in Anderson Cooper, New York, News | Permalink
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Anderson Cooper is a worthless piece of shite. I'm nauseated by his coyness. This a-hole writes a book detailing his brother's suicide, etc., appears on Oprah discussing this VERY PERSONAL stuff, yet he refuses to acknowledge he's gay and any questions pertaining to this are considered too personal and off limits. Ugh. Yeah, he's cute but why gay men continue to fawn over him in light of the aforementioned facts... well its just too damned depressing.
Posted by: JOHN IN MANHATTAN | Aug 17, 2007 12:35:29 PM
"yet he refuses to acknowledge he's gay and any questions pertaining to this are considered too personal and off limits:
once again, it's nobody's business but himself to choose to come out or not and no one should be judging him for that - just dumb queens like you who think that being gay is everybody's business...shut up!
Posted by: again... | Aug 17, 2007 12:40:14 PM
Gothamist pointed to a whole flickr stream of these tags yesterday, the are all over town.
Posted by: Cully | Aug 17, 2007 12:40:20 PM
manic makes no cents.
Posted by: A.J. | Aug 17, 2007 12:50:33 PM
Look at Thomas Roberts. He was basically forced to quit once he came out. And what did Anderson do, nothing.
Posted by: John | Aug 17, 2007 12:58:47 PM
"once again, it's nobody's business but himself to choose to come out or not and no one should be judging him for that - just dumb queens like you who think that being gay is everybody's business...shut up!"
Just like celebrities who are cheating on their spouse is nobody's business but it is still reported on in the news media and no one complain. Look at the news of Ryan Phillippe cheated on Reese Witherspoon with Abbie Cornish. Why is still closet celebrities get a free pass and the rest don't?
Posted by: Scott | Aug 17, 2007 1:08:00 PM
Those tags are also all over 8th Avenue in the 50's.
Posted by: Jeff | Aug 17, 2007 1:08:54 PM
It's Virginia Woolf, not Wolfe.
Posted by: Vita Sackville-West | Aug 17, 2007 1:11:53 PM
"once again, it's nobody's business but himself to choose to come out or not and no one should be judging him for that - just dumb queens like you who think that being gay is everybody's business...shut up!"
People judge celebrities on their private life all the time. Look at the Tom Cruise and how he was judge by the public. Should Anderson be treated any different from other celebrities/public figures?
Posted by: Amy | Aug 17, 2007 1:12:35 PM
Yes, before I read your update I was going to say that the "Manic" looked like the writer's tag line.
So, when are we going to see pictures of your dog? Hmmmm?
Posted by: Patrick | Aug 17, 2007 1:21:09 PM
I walked past a couple yesterday on E.13th between Broadway and 4th. (near the corner of 4th). This chick was snapping pictures of them... Now I know why.
Posted by: scottevill | Aug 17, 2007 2:10:43 PM
Ryan Phillipe has just come out slandering Jake Gyllenhaal with Brokeback jokes. Sorry now gays can no longer fawn over Ryan. He should be put at the top of the gay black list for 15 y/o girls. Lets all boycott all his movies.
Posted by: Zeke | Aug 17, 2007 2:13:33 PM
Jeez, I always thought it was Ryan P. who was the subject of those H'wood blind items about the married twink who attended the Palm Springs circuit parties, with wedding ring firmly in place.
Posted by: zabadak | Aug 17, 2007 2:27:38 PM
Maybe it's because I see him every day at the gym - the gayest gym in all of gayville - but its never appeared to me that he was in the "closet". Yes, it would be cool if he were to apply the same bravery he uses when he is reporting from the edge, to his off camera life but I don't think his silence on that issue makes him "a worthless piece of shite" either. Typical maybe but a bad person - no.
Dude will take the plunge when he is ready (and his contract permits?) and I would imagine there will be no formal announcements or magazine covers but instead he'll probably just casually slip it into a story or an interview or anecdote - at least that is what I would do - the worst thing he could do for his career as a globe trotting journalist is to make a big deal about it and by writing tell alls and not telling all - well that's kind of what he did. I wish him luck though because its obviously a precarious situation in his mind but nothing ventured nothing gained.
Posted by: Giovanni | Aug 17, 2007 2:37:00 PM
Giovanni... Cooper should've just "slipped it in" casually wayback, but now it's festered and he's painted himself into this corner.
i think it all has something to do with his mother.
Posted by: A.J. | Aug 17, 2007 2:44:19 PM
** and what if this Mani-no-cents is infact a 15yr old girl.
Posted by: A.J. | Aug 17, 2007 2:45:20 PM
Funny how as a community we ask the world not to judge us, but feel so entitled to judge others.
None of us have ever been in this man's shoes, none of us KNOWS what goes on inside this man's head. Why do so many of you think it's ok to make speculations, judgments and demands on someone you've never met?
If you're so concerned about gay visibility, go work hard and get yourself a high profile national tv show and tell the world you're inner most thoughts.
I hate to say this, but ya'll should "Starting with the man in the mirror", it would certainly serve the gay cause more than spending your energy and time ranting in the comments section of someone's else blog about someone you don't even know.
Posted by: rich | Aug 17, 2007 2:50:13 PM
It's a crime that queens can't even get it together to correct mistakenly spelling Virginia Woolf's name as "Wolfe." Vita herself pointed it out to you. Please don't let us think you're ignorant.
Posted by: gwyneth cornrow | Aug 17, 2007 3:13:44 PM
Giovanni: I believe the gayest gym in all of gayville would be the 24 Hr Fitness across from the Ramada in WeHo - is that correct?
And I cannot wait for school to start back up so we have fewer whiny brats looking to stir up trouble here. Some of you mean bitches need to grow the fuck up.
Posted by: Anoonymouse | Aug 17, 2007 3:20:35 PM
Anderson's living his life the way he wants to with no explanations. Since he never beards or pretends to love women, I don't see him as closeted. He's just not doing things the way some people THINK he should. If the info about his brother and his family is ALL he wants the public to know, that's his business and his right.
I agree with Manic's sentiment.
Posted by: Ron | Aug 17, 2007 3:37:06 PM
Thank you for saying it, Rich. The hypocrisy of the gay community is startling and, honestly, sad.
Posted by: Derrick | Aug 17, 2007 3:48:21 PM
Most people I know don't have a problem with Anderson in the closet but they do have a problem with Anderson not supporting gay rights or gay groups once he started working for CNN. While he was at ABC, he attended gay events such as NLGJA, GLAAD, and HRC but no longer. FYI, while at ABC, he didn't talk about his personal life too but that didn't stop from attending these events. What happen when he started working at CNN to prevent him from going to gay events to show his support for the gay community.
Why can't he more like David Hyde Pierce? Like Anderson, David won't talk his personal life until recently and I quote "My life is an open book, but don’t expect me to read it to you." This didn't stop him from being a regular supporter of AIDS charities and LGBT causes.
Posted by: Allen | Aug 17, 2007 4:33:05 PM
Quit yer dreamin boys. Anderson is NOT gay. He is my boyfriend.
15 y.o. Girl
Posted by: meowmiz | Aug 17, 2007 5:42:20 PM
Anderson hasn’t aired any big personal information that wasn’t already public knowledge. His father’s and brother’s deaths were in the papers and TV news. His mother had already written about them herself.
Anderson gets the same treatment from the press that other people like him get. That’s classy, likable celebrities who date non-celebrities, have performed work that earns them respect, are considered to maintain some dignity and integrity, and avoid making a public spectacle of themselves. That group includes Jodie Foster but also includes people like George Clooney. Everybody is aware that George goes through women like Kleenex, and it sometime surfaces very generally as marriage questions in the major media similar to how Anderson gets asked the gay question, but you don’t see them painting him as a slutty cad or going after details which would take George’s privacy and probably ruin his career. If every week there was another woman on the cover of Us Weekly with headline allegations that George had used this poor lady and thrown her away his female fan base would probably diminish quickly.
I understand that Anderson’s hosting Elton John’s upcoming AIDs event, which is a positive thing all around. I agree it would be nice if he spent more time at gay events since making it big on CNN. Since the gay press is the only one that makes a big fuss about his sexuality and has done ever since he made it big, I’m not sure who should be considered responsible there – the guy who’s probably become uncomfortable or the people applying the pressure and scrutiny that’s made the situation uncomfortable. How much grief and gay media exposés did DHP attract at those things? Probably not much if any I’d bet.
Posted by: TR | Aug 17, 2007 6:58:18 PM
Ummm....can we leave aside the issue of whether he should burst out of the closet or not, and mention the REAL issue here, as far as I am concerned...the poor thing is just not that good as a reporter OR an anchor, IMHO...he is as wooden as a plank in his delivery of the news, his interview style is plain awful (he always seems to be attempting to challenge Matt Lauer's breezy style, and he falls flat in the attempt...he is just too uptight) and as for his onsite coverage (and this includes the infamous Katrina coverage), meh...not that insightful at all...he really is just eye candy for cable news. I don't get his appeal as a journalist at all.
Posted by: tom | Aug 17, 2007 6:59:10 PM