Comedian Kathy Griffin says she never
thought of outing her pal Anderson Cooper, but adds she was asked to
plenty of times.
In an op-ed published Tuesday on The
Daily Beast, Griffin described the media as being “fixated”
on Anderson's sexual orientation, which he discussed
for the first time on Monday.
“Kicking around for as many years as
I have, I've done countless interviews pushing Kathy Griffin: My
life on the D-List, stand-up comedy specials, live comedy dates,
the Kathy show, and everything in between. I've talked to
everyone from a local gay blogger to Time magazine. I'm not
really sure at what point it changed, but the press – or at least
the press who covered my little carnival – became fixated on
Anderson's orientation. And for years, I talked around it.”
“Believe it or not, I don't 'out'
people. It is neither my business nor my desire. … But in my
dealings with a certain sector of the press, that simply was never
good enough.”
“So while I've tried to protect my
friend and represent him the way he would most prefer, I was never
exactly clear on just how to do it, how to say it. One year, while
in the middle of doing several interviews to promote New Year’s Eve
Live on CNN, I had a discussion with Anderson about it. 'For
Christ's sake, Anderson, I've been getting asked as much about your
sexuality as I have about my own show!' I said.”
“He said: 'Kathy, I don’t get asked
as much about my sexuality as you get asked about my sexuality. But
here's my standard party line: 'I want to report the news. I don’t
want to be the news.'”
Griffin concluded by saying she loves
her friend and is proud of him.
“And I'm honored, truly, that he
considers me a friend. But I just want him to be careful. Of course
he wouldn't be doing his job if he really were being careful. And he
wouldn't be who he is.”