Anderson Cooper said that Richard Gere helped him realize he was gay after he attended a play starring Gere at the age of 11.
Cooper went to see the play with two of his mother’s gay friends.
“And they took me to see Richard Gere in ‘Bent,’ which if anyone doesn’t know about the play ‘Bent,’ it’s about two gay guys in the concentration camp,” Cooper explained. “I mean the opening scene… It is the gayest thing you can imagine.
“And this was Richard Gere in 1977, ‘Looking for Mr. Goodbar.’ He was so beautiful. And I’m there. My mom didn’t go. It was just me and my mom’s two gay friends.”
He added, “And I just remember being like, ‘Oh my God, I’m gay. … I’m totally gay.’ And afterward, Paul Jasmin was friends with Richard Gere,. Cause Paul Jasmin took the pictures for ‘American Gigolo’ and we go backstage and Richard Gere is shirtless in his dressing room.”
