Anderson Cooper on why he is raising his baby with an ex

Anderson Cooper explains why he is raising baby Wyatt with his ex

Anderson Cooper is "all for" more people loving his son.

By Tracy BrownStaff Writer

May 12, 2020 5:31 PM PT

Anderson Cooper is opening up about co-parenting his child with an ex.

In an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show” on Tuesday, the CNN anchor explained why he decided to raise baby Wyatt with his former partner Benjamin Maisani, with whom he was involved for 10 years.

“I don’t really have a family, so my friends become my family,” said Cooper, 52, adding that even though they did not work out as a couple, Maisani is “a great guy.”

Cooper’s decision is based on his own childhood experience growing up as the son of heiress and fashion entrepreneur Gloria Vanderbilt. His father, Wyatt’s namesake, died when he was 10.

“When I was a kid, it was just my mom and my brother. She was not the most parental person,” Cooper said. “I wish some adult, after my dad died, had stepped in and just been like ... ‘I’ll take you to a ballgame’ or ‘let’s go out to lunch ... and just talk.’ No one ever did that.

“So I thought, well, if something happens to me — even if something doesn’t happen to me — if more people love my son and are in his life, I’m all for that,” he added.

Cooper announced the birth of his son on air and in an Instagram post in April and has been regularly sharing his joy over the experience ever since. He has recounted how he has not been able to stop staring at his son, that he was able to tell his mother that he planned on becoming a father before she died last year and even how baby Wyatt is wearing hand-me-downs given to him from friend and TV host Andy Cohen.

He’s also often mentioned his newfound appreciation for coffee.

When asked about how Wyatt will refer to his two parents, Cooper explained to Stern that Maisani, who is French, will be “papa” and he plans to go by “Dad [or] Daddy.”

“[Maisani’s] already speaking French to him,” Cooper added. “I have no idea what he’s saying. He could be turning the kid against me, I don’t know.”