Anderson Cooper and his ex-boyfriend, Benjamin Maisani, are co-parenting two children who live with the journalist. Cooper lives with his children in the fire station he converted into a home.
On February 10, 2022, Anderson Cooper announced the birth of his second child on the “Anderson Cooper 360” program. The CNN anchor shares the boy with his former longtime partner and best friend, Benjamin Maisani.
The duo are also parents to their first son, whom they had welcomed two years prior. Benjamin is a businessman who decided to open his “Eastern Bloc” bar after working at one, and he built relationships with celebrities at his establishment.
After welcoming his first son, Wyatt Morgan Cooper, Anderson took to CNN to reveal he had become a father. On February 25, 2022, Anderson was interviewed on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” where he updated viewers about how Wyatt was bonding with Sebastian, saying:
“They seem to be getting along really well. I mean, ‘Getting along well’ — Sebastian sleeps. He can’t say Sebastian yet, he calls him Luke. So every morning he wants to go say ‘Good morning, Luke.'”
Anderson’s Relationship & Co-parenting with Benjamin Maisani
Anderson and Benjamin started seeing each other in 2009, went public with the relationship in 2015, and revealed they’d broken up in 2018. The couple might not be in a relationship anymore, but they were so well bonded that the star announced:
“Maisani is going to be a co-parent to Wyatt even though we’re not together anymore. He’s my family, and I want him to be Wyatt’s family as well.”
n September 2021, Anderson got candid about the strange co-parenting arrangement between him and his ex. He confessed that it worked for them and Wyatt, noting:
“It’s probably an unusual setup, but I knew he would be a great dad, and he is. We’re exes, but we’re family to each other, and we love each other as family and as co-parents.”
The author regularly shares updates on his older son and once revealed his frustration when he missed Wyatt’s first steps. However, Benjamin rarely updates but once said his ex changed when Wyatt was born, and Anderson explained their co-parenting arrangement, stating:
“I’ve always believed that if you’ve been with somebody and that ends, in terms of an intimate relationship, if you love somebody, there’s no reason why that love shouldn’t continue.”
In February 2021, during a “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” interview, Anderson confessed to host Ellen DeGeneres that he and Benjamin once wanted different things to start a family. The star elaborated:
“It’s interesting, because he wasn’t really sure he wanted to have a kid—which is one of the reasons we probably broke up—but then, he came around to the idea. Now he is such a great parent.”
Inside Anderson’s Firehouse, Where He Lives with His Kids
On June 9, 2020, Anderson gave People a tour of the home that he converted from a fire station. Viewers saw his first son’s nursery, with its central theme, blue, featuring throughout the space.
.@andersoncooper still has newspapers delivered every morning: “I find it comforting" https://t.co/ysiIHeM9Tw pic.twitter.com/QdwgHwwCAX
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 13, 2018
.@THR trails @andersoncooper – the busiest man in TV news – as he bounces back and forth from his West Village firehouse to CNN, interviewing nervous White House staffers, planning trips to hotspots and FaceTime-ing with his old buddy @Andy Cohen https://t.co/qd4bWjkUVa pic.twitter.com/vLXIxYgD9W
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 13, 2018