As we mentioned earlier his name is Benjamin Maisani and he is the co-owner of gay bar Eastern Bloc. The 36 year old is smart, he's sweet, and he loves to work out. Sounds like a big gay catch.

Nearly everyone who talks about Maisani—whose real name is Antoine—mentions what a nice guy he is. He and spends a lot of time working out at the Crunch on Lafayette newly-opened David Barton Gym on Astor Place—someone even said "obsessively"—and is frequently spotted spotting Andy himself while doing squats. He likes horror movies, is an amateur photographer, and doesn't go out much, other than the work at his own bar. He broke up with his last boyfriend last winter and started dating Cooper shortly thereafter. We can't pinpoint exactly when, but most people seem to think it was about eight months ago. The gossip is that the couple are planning to buy (or have already bought) a converted firehouse on West 3rd Street together.

Maisani (on the right in the photo above, taken at Eastern Bloc), who comes from an upper-middle-class Parisian family, came to New York in 1995 to study film for a year, and ended up staying until now. He was a valedictorian with a perfect 4.0 when he graduated from Hunter College in 2000 with a B.A. in art history. He then worked in a museum, but was attracted to the nightlife by the more leisurely hours.

He started tending bar with Gabriel Beaton and Darren Dryden at Barracuda, a popular gay haunt in Chelsea. Legend has it that they found the old Wonder Bar space on E Sixth Street for sale on Craigslist and decided to pool their money together and open their own bar. Eastern Bloc opened in 2005 and is often packed with the sort of hip fashionable gays that hang out in the East Village. It is done up with lots of homoerotic communist propaganda and achieves a vibe somewhere between shabby chic and camp, with stools spray-painted with the words "Mary" and "hooker" on the seat. On the weekends, the small divey joint (that used to have dozens of men's briefs hanging from the ceiling) is often so packed that it's hard to make your way through. They have an especially hip party called Good Times on Wednesday night that attracts a crowd of gay hipsters living it up on a school night.
http://gawker.com/5392965...-boyfriend

PurpleRighteous1 said:

Congratulations on your graduation.


And that guy is smokin' hot.


I always thought the gay thing was a rumor. I really had no idea it was true.

Yeah, I've seen a couple of those pics before. He'd grab onto that and ride it until dawn.

Vendetta1 said:

Suzy Oreman and Kathy Griffin gave him his birthday cake this year on AC 360.

He goes clubbing with Madonna.

what more do you need? him and his bf getting busy on the set?

ehuffnsd said:

yes please!

ehuffnsd said:

I had no idea about all of that. I really don't keep up with celebrities at all.

Plus, he was part of a fantasy of mine.

Vendetta1 said:

Andy is kind of in the glass closet, as people call it. Jodie Foster is another (although she sorta let her les feathers fly a year or two ago when she thanked her girlfriend at some benefit or award thingymabob). Andy has long been known to be gay, but just never admitted it. Of course, he never denied it either. Even Rosie and Ellen and David Hyde Pierce, and Neil Patrick Harris were like that. People knew, but why have to announce it? Straight people don't announce it when they start a job do they? I think the whole "coming out" thing is stupid, in some ways. Do Jews announce who they are when they walk in a room? "Oy vey, I'm here, I'm Jew...my back hurts." Anyway, it's just an unspoken fact. Actually, on his show, he's made a few very sly comments with his female cohost that have some innuendo in them. Something about a hooker or something....I forget, but he said, "I think we all know I don't have to worry about that". Hysterical, and honest, moment.

I think if he weren't a journalist, he'd come out more. However, he has a good reputation in the business, and perhaps he sees coming out as a bad thing, in that if he speaks or reports on a gay issue or something even close, people can accuse him of bias or bending the truth. If he's ambiguous on TV, people are more likely to just take him as he says it. That's conjecture on my part, but it sort of makes sense to me.

ernestsewell said:

Sister Iona is debating this very issue on fb, and lets say the two of you don't agree.

Vendetta1 said:

Thank you! I can't wait for it to be over!!

ehuffnsd said:

Not sure who that is, but ok. And I ain't here to change anyone's mind. Just my . I'm not opposed to people coming out of they want to, but I am just not into announcing it. I know people who have lost sleep over whether to come out at work or not. My question is...WHY? Do you NEED to stand up and announce it? Do you NEED to mention that you suck dick? Seems silly. Worried about showing up at the company party w/ your boyfriend? Just show up. Straight people don't worry about. WTF are gays so worried about?!?! And what if you come out and someone shits on you for it? They'd probably shit on you for something else anyway, if they're such dickheads, so don't even give them the chance.

I guess it's a case by case basis, ultimately.

Out of the two I'd still rather do Anderson.

ernestsewell said:

quoting a friend of mine



quoting me


more from my friend

johnart said:

His face is just...I can't even explain it. I could spend hours staring in those eyes.

Vendetta1 said:

He's cute, sho nuf, but damned if he don't look like Powder right here


[Edited 12/15/09 19:51pm]

Vendetta1 said:

I prefer Anderson as well.

His (assumed) BF is a very attractive dude... but in a way somewhat conventional and unremarkable to me. Anderson's look is quirky, and we've seen a decent personality attached to it. That's the sort of thing that gets me going.

Vendetta1 said:

i'd like to be in the middle.

ehuffnsd said:

Get in line, bitch!

Lammastide said:

Anderson Cooper has been consoling himself over falling ratings by living it up in Jaipur, India, at one of the world's most opulent hotels. The CNN star was spotted Tuesday with his muscular friend, Benjamin Maisani, an owner of East Village bar Eastern Bloc, at the Rambagh Palace, named the best hotel in the world by Conde Nast Traveler. Cooper's $3,200-a-night room features a four-poster mahogany bed and views of the gardens of the former Maharaja palace. Our source said, "Anderson's room has a large round bathtub. On the first night it was filled with bubbles and sprinkled with red rose petals."

All the patrons know Maisani, because he's big, and know he's dating Cooper. Word on the street is that Madonna's recent appearance there had less to do with her getting back to her East Village gay roots and more to do with the fact that she was with Cooper, who wanted to play "whose boy toy is hotter" with Madge.

Cooper's see-through closet is such a joke that it doesn't make sense to call him in the closet anymore. If he won't say it, we will: Anderson Cooper is officially out. There's no difference between him and Neil Patrick Harris. They both play it straight at their day jobs and then openly go about town with their boyfriends and do TV interviews about how much they love Kathy Griffin and The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

It's not like Cooper's in a club all of his own, either. He is part of an increasingly large crowd of notables who won't come out but have given up trying to hide that they are gay. Queen Latifah denied that she was going to marry her girlfriend, a girlfriend who she tries to pass off as her "trainer." Kevin Spacey got busted lying about being mugged in a London cruising park. Ricky Martin has stopped even trying to fight the gay rumors. Jodie Foster has never said she's a lesbian out loud, but she basically came out when she thanked her partner in an acceptance speech.

These gay-not-gay celebrities are different from the Hugh Jackmans, John Travoltas, Tom Cruises, and Kenny Chesneys, who are all constantly plagued with gay rumors that they strenuously try to deny or deflect. If they're gay, they're doing it in secret. Cooper and his set of cohorts live openly gay lives — and that's a good thing — but they refuse to acknowledge what the public already knows.

In Anderson Cooper's specific case, we sort of understand why he won't open his mouth and let the rainbows fly. All the guy has ever wanted to do was be an old-fashioned newsman and unfortunately him coming out would make him a part of the story. Every time he tried to cover something having to do with gay civil rights (or Madonna or Fire Island) plenty of people would claim that his reporting was biased because of his sexual orientation. It's not fair: Katie Couric doesn't have to worry when she covers pay inequality for women, and neither does Harry Smith when discussing new medicine that will eradicate baldness.

Coming out would open Cooper up to irrational accusations from those waiting to pounce on the "liberal media" just as quickly as A.C. pounces on his muscle man in an Indian hotel room. That sucks, but it's the way it currently is. How does it get changed? Well, by having some major national news figures come out and show that they can still get blown over in a hurricane or report live from a war zone without breaking into a anti-Prop 8 rant.

That's right, Anderson, it's going to take you to change it. Rachel Maddow has paved the way, but all the baby gays out there need you to man up and be our Jackie Robinson. The first step is the easiest, you just have to say what everyone already knows.

http://gawker.com/5392766...e-knows-it

SCNDLS said:

Powder white can be a beautiful thing.
I love it all honey, from the darkest chocolate to the brightest of vanillas.

ehuffnsd said:

Well, I ain't complainin bout the boyfriend...that's a given.

johnart said:

He still cute with his translucent self

SCNDLS said:

A nearly translucent dude with some translucent fur, HEAVEN...

Anderson aint got fur goin but still...cute.

johnart said:

There's something hot about a pale boy like that. AND a silver fox to boot!!!!

Anderson has never been really closeted, I talked to him in a gay bar in chicago in the mid 90's when he was on ABC's World News Now, which was an amazing late night news/variety show. He just has always felt that being a journalist means you have to be as unbiased as possible to come off as neutral. If and When Andy replaces Regis, he will just matter a factly start talking bout his personal life and it won't be a big deal. Hell fags have been talking bout him for 15 years now.

P.S. This story is like 2 months old.
[Edited 12/15/09 23:18pm]

I've never heard of this guy, but whoever the paleface is - he's the cute one. The other one looks factory-farmed.

lazycrockett said:

yes but today on Regis and Kelly, Kelly made a boo boo and almost outed our dear Anderson on national tv.

vivid said:

Um.....paleface is Anderson Cooper, one of the most well known anchors and reports on cable news for the past few years. He's also the son of Gloria Vanderbilt and writer Wyatt Emory Cooper.

ernestsewell said:

Thanks. I'm not American, so it's all Chinese to me.

johnart said:

I agree with you.