When we revisit how we all got here, to this gay state of being, it often does involve a Pride celebration or two. They help us figure out who we are, they mark occurrences in our lives, they make us just think about who we are.
Andy Cohen hosted a special edition of his SiriusXM show Andy Cohen Live, live from the Stonewall Inn in New York City to celebrate Pride. He, along with his co-host John Hill were joined by special guests Anderson Cooper, Bowen Yang, and Billy Eichner.
These conversations Cohen had with his guests made us look back on significant dates and happenings in our own lives, but gave us some great insight into his guests’ lives.
Anderson Cooper on Richard Gere’s Role in his Sexual Awakening
Do you remember that moment that you knew you were gay? Mine was a little bit in the 3rd grade when I knew I liked the red-headed boy in class in a different way, but was truly solidified in the gym class locker room in the 7th grade.
Cooper seemed to have a similar experience at 11. Here’s the audio clip of him sharing his sexual awakening thanks to a shirtless Richard Gere. Cooper also mentions coming out to his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt.
Anderson Cooper: And I just remember being like, ‘oh my God, I’m gay. Like, this is , I’m totally gay.’ And, and afterward that Paul Jasmin was friends with Richard Gere. Cause Paul Jasmine took the pictures for American Gigolo and we go backstage and Richard Gere is shirtless in his dressing room. And I, I was so, I couldn’t speak. I, I didn’t. And I had my Playbill and I wanted to get him to autographed, but I was too. I just couldn’t stop staring his chest. And, uh, so fast forward to, I dunno, 10 years ago I was interviewing Richard Gere and I took out the Playbill and I told. I had the Playbill still and I told him the whole story and I had him sign it. Yeah. He was very tickled with it.
SNL’s Bowen Yang Talks Conversion Therapy & Coming Out
Anderson Cooper shares how he knew he was gay, but Bowen Yang opens up with Andy Cohen about how he came out, well how his parents found out he was gay, thanks AOL!
Bowen Yang: It, it, it went horribly. She was, she was in tears. I’d never seen my dad cry before. And then I was coming home to him crying like sobbing every single day. I mean it, it all has a happy ending. Like we get along great now. But, but then I would go to Colorado Springs every week and my last summer in Colorado, to go to this conversion therapist. It’s it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. In the words of Wendy Williams it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. But it was, it was, it was weird.
Andy Cohen: They sent you to conversion therapy?
Bowen Yang: Because they were these, because culturally it made no sense to them. They were very like science minded, solutions oriented people. They thought this is a problem. They’re like, how do we solve this? Let’s send them to this quack and oh, we went, but it’s, guys I promise. Okay. We’re good. We’re good.
Billy Eichner on Joan Rivers’ Launching His Career
Billy got his start on ‘The View’? Well, not exactly.
Andy Cohen: We did a pilot, a real pilot. A talk show in a studio with Joan Rivers and it was called Straight Talk with Joan Rivers and it was Joan Rivers and four gay guys doing The View. Which by the way, not the worst idea.
Billy Eichner: It was great in theory.
Andy Cohen: Yeah, it was, maybe the wrong group of people.
Billy Eichner: Maybe, but, but you and I had fun and that’s how I really met you. And that’s how I really met Joan. And she became such a champion of mine. Long before anyone knew who I was. I was just thinking, I think about Joan all the time. And you know, now that I’ve had more success, I always think about her. And you know what Joan Rivers did, she came to see my live show that I was doing like off, off Broadway, which you came to also. You both probably saw it back in the day. And then no one knew who I was in TV and I couldn’t get a real job. And she took DVDs that had my early, early Billy On The Street, YouTube videos on them. And she, as she went to talk shows as she went to do Letterman and, and Kimmel, and the daytime shows, she would go up to the producers and say, ‘you have to watch this DVD, this guy, Billy Eichner and you have to have him on.’
Andy Cohen: Unbelievable.
Billy Eichner: Truly. And no one knew who I was, even. She even did that remember when she could, cause Joan had been banned from late night. And then Letterman finally had her on again after many, many years, which was a huge, huge deal for her that first night she did Letterman for the first time in decades. She brought my DVDs to his producers. I mean, Joan was the fucking best.
It was great to get some insight on how these prominent gay men got their starts, how they became who they are, how they figured out who they were.
Did these accounts trigger any of your memories?
Source: SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live and SiriusXM’s Radio Andy.
Loved all those gay interviews! I still watch WWHL, lovin it.