Anderson Cooper (Officially) Comes Out: ‘I’m Gay’

*The worst kept secret in the news business is now out of the closet, so to speak.

Anderson Cooper, who’s rumored lover is black,  has come out in perhaps the most low-key way any celebrity has so far: by letting someone else make the announcement for him.

The CNN newsman and talk show host, whose homosexuality has long been an almost open secret, confirmed it in an email to friend Andrew Sullivan, which he gave the Daily Beast columnist permission to post. A representative for Cooper confirmed to TheWrap that the email was authentic.

“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,” Cooper said in the email.

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Cooper said he has kept his sexuality private until now to maintain his privacy, and because it was irrelevant to his reporting. But he said he had recently become concerned “that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something – something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed or even afraid. This is distressing because it is simply not true.”

For a column, Sullivan asked Cooper for his thoughts on an emerging trend of high-profile figures coming out in undertstated ways. Sullivan said it was in many ways “a great development: we’re evolved enough not to be gob-smacked when we find out someone’s gay.”

But Sullivan, who is gay, also argued that it was imporant that people put their sexuality “on the record” to set an example for others, including bullied gay kids.

Read/learn more at The Wrap.