Kathy Griffin on Anderson Cooper coming out: He 'never gave me permission' to speak about it

Anderson Cooper has just come out publicly with his sexuality, letting the world know in a letter to The Daily Beast columnist Andrew Sullivan that he is “proud” of who he is.

“The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud,” the CNN host said in the letter.

Since Cooper gave Sullivan permission to publish the letter, stars like Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris have praised the journalist.
But Cooper’s close friend, comedienne Kathy Griffin, is now speaking out in her own letter to the Daily Beast about never “outing” her friend.

In the letter, titled "I Would Never Have Dreamed of Outing Anderson Cooper," she explained “Believe it or not, I don’t ‘out’ people. It is neither my business nor my desire. Remember, folks, I am a comedian, not a journalist.”

After joking about whether or not Oprah and Gayle King are “gay lovers,” Griffin continued, “Quite frankly, he never gave me permission to speak about something that represented the one part of his life he was not comfortable having confirmed in the media. But in my dealings with a certain sector of the press, that simply was never good enough.”

Griffin, who has her own show on Bravo called Kathy, concluded “Here's the thing: I love my friend Anderson and remain immensely 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."