Two years after their split, Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani continue to be a major part of each other’s lives.
Appearing virtually on “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert this week, Cooper spoke at length about becoming a first-time father with the birth of son Wyatt Morgan on April 27. The experience, the CNN anchor said, was especially poignant since it took place amid the coronavirus pandemic and less than a year after the death of his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt.
Maisani, Cooper said, was present in the delivery room will be Wyatt’s co-parent “even though we’re not together anymore.”
“You know, he’s my family,” he explained. “And I want him to be Wyatt’s family as well.”
Cooper and Maisani, a New York nightclub owner, kept a low profile for much of their nine-year relationship. In July 2017, however, they were photographed at Cooper’s Brazilian vacation home for Architectural Digest, and spoke to Town & Country about their growing art collection.
By March 2018, however, Cooper revealed that the pair had gone their separate ways.
“We are still family to each other, and love each other very much,” he said in a statement to People at the time, adding that he and Maisani “remain the best of friends, and will continue to share much of our lives together.”
Watch Anderson Cooper’s “Late Show” interview below.
Elsewhere in his Monday interview with Colbert, Cooper said his pal Andy Cohen helped convince him the time was right to become a dad.
Cohen’s son, Benjamin Allen, turned 1 in February.
“He’s been encouraging me all along,” he said. “I figured if he can do it ... that sort of gave me the final push.”