Anderson Cooper Fires Back At Star Jones On 'Anderson Live'
After Anderson Cooper came out of the closet this summer, he received some unexpected criticism from fellow television host Star Jones. Now Cooper is firing back on his show “Anderson Live.”
Jones, a former host of “The View,” appeared on “Today” soon after Cooper announced he was gay and criticized the journalist’s declaration of his sexual identity as pandering for ratings, “When the ratings slip in daytime, the hosts tend to tell you lots of things about them,” she said.
Anderson Cooper, however, says that’s far from the case.
"I haven't thought about Star Jones in I don't know how long. I was unaware she was even on TV, but she apparently shows up on a morning show," Cooper said Thursday on his daytime talk show “Anderson Live.” "It so annoyed me.... If I was wanting to boost ratings I would have waited to announce it on a very special episode that would have been promoed for weeks and weeks."
Cooper continued his attack against Star, accusing her of practicing the very same ratings-baiting she was decrying.
"I seem to recall her hawking her wedding every single day to get free products when she was on 'The View,' " Cooper said. "And I seem to recall her lying about her gastric-bypass surgery and making everybody else lie about it as well."
Cooper also discussed the largely positive response he received from coming out of the closet and said that he hoped he could be a strong role model to gay youth in the future.
“I’m really pleased with the response. I think it's important to send a message to, especially young people, there's nothing to be ashamed of and you can be successful and you can have a life and you can have many interests and this is one part of your life,” Cooper said.
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