Anderson and Andy. Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
How else should they end the year of the Nepo baby? During CNN’s annual New Year’s Eve live broadcast last night, Andy Cohen couldn’t stop pointing out the fact that Anderson Cooper is related to the once incredibly wealthy Vanderbilt family. “Look at that little Nepo baby, he’s so cute,” Cohen said in a baby voice as he hugged his co-host. “I’m not a Nepo baby! I’m not a Nepo baby!” Cooper insisted, jumping up and down, hands clenched. The CNN host assured Howard Stern back in 2014 that he never received a trust fund, adding at the time that he “don’t believe in inheriting money.” During the countdown to 2023, Cooper also made sure to reiterate to Cohen that his family fortune was lost “a long time ago.”
Cohen and Cooper didn’t drink during the CNN show this year, although Brian Cox showed up after midnight to offer them a bottle of champagne. The network’s new rules on booze came a year after Cohen drunkenly referred to the guests on the ABC show as Ryan Seacrest’s “losers’ group.” In the hours leading up to midnight, the hosts instead took “mystery shots” of substances like pickle juice, buttermilk and apple cider vinegar. Meanwhile, CNN correspondents were also doing their best to prove that sobriety didn’t have to mean a sobering show — Don Lemon, for example, completely missed the start of 2023 because he was so busy support that azz.
CNN redeemed itself by ringing in the New Year in New Orleans with “Back That Azz Up,” completely ignoring the stroke of midnight pic.twitter.com/tieCeHc4sA
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 1, 2023