Anderson Cooper Explains Why His Ex Is Helping Raise Baby Wyatt

Anderson Cooper explains why his ex is co-parenting with him, and it just shows how much he loves his son

As uncertain and scary as these times are, there’s one thing that’s been a constant bright spot and source of joy for all of us: Anderson Cooper becoming a dad. He announced the birth of his son, Wyatt Morgan Cooper, at the end of last month, and since then, has been giving us small updates to his new life as a father — like how he and Andy Cohen are best dad friends, and their babies are growing to be tiny BFFs, too.

One thing Cooper has revealed since his son’s birth is that he’s not going at this totally alone — his ex of 10 years, Benjamin Maisani, is acting as a co-parent to Wyatt and the two men plan to raise him together, even though they broke up in 2018. That information raised an eyebrow or two, including that of Howard Stern, who asked Cooper to an interview on his show to get some more details.

Doesn’t Cooper want a “clean break” from someone he dated for so long, Stern asked. As it turns out, no. He definitely does not.

“I don’t really have a family, so my friends become my family,” Cooper explained. “And this is somebody that I was involved with for 10 years. He’s a great guy.”

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He continued, “We didn’t work out as a couple… but when I was a little kid, it was just my mom and my brother. But it was my mom and she was not the most parental person. I wish some adult, after my dad died, had stepped in, and just been like, you know what? I’ll take you to a ball game, or let’s go out to lunch every now and then, and let’s just talk. No one ever did that.”

Cooper said he wants more adults in little Wyatt’s life, so he’s surrounded by as much love as possible. And that includes Maisani.

“So I thought, if something happens to me or even if something doesn’t happen to me, if more people love my son and are in his life, I’m all for that,” he explained. “My ex is a great guy and it’s good to have two parents, if you can.”

Cooper also adorably revealed the pair’s plans for what little Wyatt will call them when he’s older.

“My ex is French, his name is Benjamin, so he’s gonna speak in French to the kid. And he’s gonna be, I think, ‘papa.’ And I think I’ll be ‘dad’ or ‘daddy.'”

One thing is absolutely certain: Wyatt is already one very loved little boy.