The Sad History Of Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper may live a rich and respected lifestyle, but things haven't always been
easy for the celebrated journalist and CNN anchor.
From an early age, he's battled to overcome more tragic twists and turns than most people
will experience in their lifetimes.
Here are some of the darker moments the sunny anchor has experienced over the years.
Losing his dad
As the heir of the prestigious Vanderbilt family, Anderson Cooper's life seemed auspicious
from the start.
His family was wealthy, his mother was famous, and he was born with more high-profile connections
that most people can hope for in a lifetime.
In 1978, Anderson's father, Wyatt Cooper, died while undergoing open-heart surgery at
the age of 50, and the loss stunned his youngest son into silence.
"After my father died, I was 10 I always found it really difficult to talk about and for
years, really didn't."
Nearly 40 years later, though, Anderson remembers fondly the short time he was able to spend
with his dad.
"He gave me the sense that I had value, that my ideas mattered.
That instilled in me a confidence I don't think I would have otherwise had."
Even so, experiencing a loss of that magnitude at such a young age had a greater impact on
Anderson.
"Loss changes you…
particularly when you lose a parent at a young age.
The world suddenly seems a much different place.
More dangerous."
It wasn't the last time his family would experience a tragedy that would define their futures.
Losing his brother
In 1988, Anderson's brother, Carter Cooper, committed suicide by falling to his death
from his mother's 14th-floor penthouse in New York City.
"It was the summer before my senior year in college.
He was two years ahead of me, so he was about 23.
And he killed himself in front of my mom."
According to Carter's obituary in The New York Times, Carter was being treated for depression
at the time, but no drugs or alcohol were found in his system.
Anderson told Howard Stern in 2014, "I think he had this impulse that he could not contain."
Anderson has spent much of his professional career speaking openly about his struggle
to grieve and to move on from his brother's suicide.
The tragedy played a key role in his decision to pursue journalism.
He told People Magazine, "I started going overseas and going to places where life and
death was very real and where people were suffering tremendous losses.
Hearing their stories and hearing people talk about it sort of helped me to get to a place
where I could talk about it."
Even so, he doesn't believe he'll ever truly have closure.
Carter's death galvanized a lifelong bond between Anderson and his mother.
"She's the last person in my family alive."
But the one-two punch of losing two family members within the span of ten years still
took its toll on them both.
In their joint book, The Rainbow Comes and Goes, Vanderbilt recalled the painful moments
following Carter's suicide, writing, "I wanted to die and I only knew the stream of pain
I kept going over and over and over again was what was keeping me alive."
But in a shared interview with her son, she revealed that by talking about her loss, she
was able to heal, even if it made him uncomfortable.
"So, going over the details of how it happened was helpful to you because I found it difficult
to listen to."
Coming out
From the moment he rose to fame on CNN, Anderson's sexual life became the subject of rampant
speculation in the tabloids and online.
He was often criticized for remaining private about his sexuality rather than using his
fame and popularity to advocate publicly for equality and reform.
In 2012, Anderson finally discussed his sexuality in an email published to The Daily Beast,
writing, "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be."
A few years later, Anderson shared his reasons for telling the public what his friends and
family had known for years, saying, "At a certain point it started to feel like by not
saying something, I was saying something.
It seemed like I was uncomfortable about something, which wasn't the case.
I was leading a very open gay life with my partner in New York; we'd go to gay bars."
Cooper had said he initially remained closeted to the public for personal and professional
reasons, which had evolved over the years.
Stopping a stalker
As if all of his personal complications weren't enough, in 2013, Anderson and his partner
Benjamin Maisani had been stalked by a schizophrenic man named Alex Hausner for more than five
years.
Hausner reportedly made menacing phone calls to Anderson's home and workplace and tried
to break into the couple's New York City home.
Hausner pleaded guilty to felony menacing and harassment charges in April 2014.
He was sentenced to five years of probation, court-ordered psychiatric treatment, and restrained
from contacting Cooper and Masaini.
Although Hausner claimed Cooper had nothing to fear from him, his haunting words about
the CNN star said otherwise.
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The Sad History Of Anderson Cooper

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