Anderson Cooper’s partner, Ben Maisani, has been accused of cheating on the CNN anchor after photos of him kissing another man in a New York park emerged on Sunday.
The photos, released by the Daily Mail, depict Maisani, 39, and a dark-haired man holding hands and making out in a grassy area. Cooper, 45, has been dating the East Village gay bar owner for the last three years and announced his intention last month to marry his longtime partner sometime around Labor Day.
“They both have very busy lives and have enormous trust in one another,” one of Cooper’s friends told the Huffington Post. “But at the end of the day, they come from very different worlds.”
Cooper publicly came out on July 2 in a statement released by gay blogger Andrew Sullivan with the anchor’s permission, saying: “The fact is I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy.”
Cooper has stated that while he is a proud, gay man, he would rather his private life be respected and said that his reluctance to come out before was because of his desire to remain an unbiased journalist in the public eye.
Anderson is the son of New York socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, who is the great-great grandaugter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, a shipping and railroad entrepreneur. Vanderbilt is said to be supportive of her son’s relationship and rumored to have encouraged his engagement. Vanderbilt did not comment on the pictures.
It still unclear when the photos were taken or whether it was before Cooper and Maisani began their relationship. Cooper, who is known as an avid tweeter, has not released any tweets following the photos publication, reported Radar Online.
