Anderson Cooper Says He Will Co-Parent With Ex, Benjamin Maisani, And Baby Wyatt Is Already Getting

Just days after announcing that he had become a father, CNN’s Anderson Cooper appeared on two different talk shows on Monday to give an update on what life is like as a first-time dad. The 52-year-old CNN anchor revealed that his ex, Benjamin Maisani, will be a big part of baby Wyatt’s life, and Cooper also admitted he was getting hand-me-down baby clothes from his bestie, Andy Cohen.

During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Cooper revealed that Maisani was not only in the delivery room with him when the surrogate gave birth to Wyatt Morgan, but he will also be a co-parent to Wyatt.

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“He’s my family and I want him to be Wyatt’s family as well,” Cooper said of Maisani.

This statement echoes what Cooper said in March 2018 when he confirmed that he and the nightclub owner had split. At the time, Cooper said that he and Maisani are “still family to each other,” and they still “love each other very much.”

Cooper also dished that his best friend Andy Cohen – who welcomed his son Benjamin via surrogate in February 2019 – was a valuable resource during the pregnancy and during the first few days of Wyatt’s life.

“He obviously knew about it well in advance, and he’s been encouraging me all along,” Cooper said. He then joked: “And I figured, you know, if he can do it, that sort of gave me the final push.”

Cooper said that Cohen helped a lot because Wyatt is “entirely wearing hand-me-downs from” Benjamin. The news anchor explained that he had planned to go shopping, even though he hates it. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit he was forced to shop online, and he didn’t know how to buy baby clothes that way.

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“Do you go to Buy Buy Baby or Amazon? I don’t know! It just seemed weird. So he just gave me all the clothes,” said Cooper.

Cooper – whose mom is the late Gloria Vanderbilt – was raised in an extremely wealthy family, but he says he wants Wyatt to understand the value of money. Cooper described himself as “inherently cheap” and someone who likes “a good value.” He joked that he wanted Wyatt to be a “Depression-era child who grows up wearing hand-me-down clothes.”

Colbert replied that he hopes Wyatt doesn’t get that opportunity, and it’s no longer just a metaphor.

Anderson Cooper also appeared on Live! with Kelly and Ryan, and he said that he was able to tell his mom that he was going to be a dad before she passed away last year. Vanderbilt died at the age of 95 in June, and Cooper says that Wyatt hadn’t been created yet, but he had started the process.

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“I was able to tell her shortly before she died that I was going to have a baby,” said Cooper. “I hadn’t actually — Wyatt hadn’t been created at that point. Wyatt wasn’t actually a being at that point. But he was an idea in my head and I was in the process of it.”

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