Anderson Cooper Splits From Longtime Boyfriend Benjamin Maisani

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and longtime boyfriend Benjamin Maisani have reportedly split, according to the New York Post’s Page Six.

“Benjamin and I separated as boyfriends some time ago,” Cooper said in a statement on Thursday. “We are still family to each other, and love each other very much. We remain the best of friends, and will continue to share much of our lives together.”

According to The Daily Mail, Cooper has been seeing a 33-year-old Dallas doctor Victor Lopez ever since he and Maisani called it quits. Cooper has reportedly flown down at least five times since December, including the two being seen in photos celebrating Mardi Gras in a hotel room.

Prior to his relationship with Maisani, Cooper was reportedly dating Cesar Recio from 2004-09.

Cooper has been openly gay for several years, but kept his personal life quiet for many years. That changed in July 2012 when he gave journalist Andrew Sullivan permission to publish an email written by Cooper.

“I’ve begun to consider whether the unintended outcomes of maintaining my privacy outweigh personal and professional principle. It’s become clear to me 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. … 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.”

While other aspects of his personal life are still kept private, Cooper took to social media back in July 2017 to honor his older brother Carter, who committed suicide back in 1988 at 23-years-old.

“My brother, Carter Cooper. Jan 27, 1965 — July 22, 1988. Hard to believe it has been 29 years. He remains in my heart, golden and true,” Anderson wrote on Instagram while posting a black and white photo of Carter and himself as children.

News broke earlier this week that Cooper’s show, AC360, was getting a shake-up over at CNN. With his show struggling in the ratings against Fox News’ Hannity and MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, the 9 p.m. hour of Cooper’s show has been cut and given to Chris Cuomo for his show Cuomo Prime Time.

“We need to be live,” CNN’s executive vice president of programming Michael Bass said in an interview with Variety. “There’s so much going in every single day, and it made sense just to be on the news. That’s what CNN is all about.”