CNN anchor Anderson Cooper has hired
Terence Noonan to co-executive produce his daytime talk show
Anderson.
The
National Enquirer is reporting that Noonan and Cooper once
dated.
The tabloid adds that the decision has
created a stir among the staff, who are concerned about how the move
will affect Cooper's 2-year-old relationship with Manhattan bar owner
Ben Maisani, 38.
“Everyone who works on Anderson
thinks it was crazy of him to hire this guy,” an unnamed source is
quoted as saying. “Not that he isn't qualified for the job. …
But it's very unseemly to hire a guy who was a former lover …
especially one who still brags about it.”
Noonan is a four-time Daytime Emmy
winner and the creator of the TLC reality show DC Cupcakes.
He was plucked from being supervising producer of Dr. Oz.
On October 8, Noonan tweeted: “It's
official – headed to Anderson show as co-executive
producer.”
Forty-four-year-old Cooper, a perennial
on gay glossy Out's annual list of the most powerful and
influential gay people in America, has neither confirmed nor denied
rumors that he's gay.