Anderson Cooper Not Taking Paternity Leave: Giving People ‘The Truth’ Is Matter Of ‘Life & Death’

Anderson Cooper revealed why he’s decided to not take paternity leave after welcoming son Wyatt Cooper on April 27. The proud new dad feels that it’s his duty to continue delivering the news to his audience.

Anderson Cooper refuses to slow down! The CNN anchor revealed that he’s decided not to take paternity leave after the birth of his son, Wyatt Morgan Cooper, in order to continue delivering news to his audience. Anderson, 52, told host Stephen Colbert on the May 5 of The Late Show that this is too “extraordinary” of a time in journalism to press pause. With the coronavirus pandemic still raging on, Anderson feels it’s his duty to continue delivering the facts, and correcting any consistencies about the crisis on air. “This is not some story, this is life and death,” he said. “This is as serious as it gets. It’s more important than ever before that things be true and accurate. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not taking time off.”

The Anderson Cooper 360 host acknowledged that he’s privileged enough to be able to continue working from home during quarantine with a newborn baby. He’s co-parenting with his ex-boyfriend, Benjamin Maisani, and has help from the same nanny who takes care of best friend Andy Cohen‘s one-year-old son, Benjamin Cohen. “Thankfully, I can do some work from home and stuff, but I feel like this is an extraordinary time to be in this business as a reporter and to be able to try to help inform people, give people facts,” he explained. “Right now, facts and science, to give people the truth, is the difference between life and death.”

Check out his remarkable interview with the Mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman, 81, for proof. Anderson grilled the mayor about her baffling desire to reopen the city amidst the ever-growing COVID-19 threat, pointing out that crowded casinos with circulated air and shared slot machines would become “petri dishes” for the virus. The mayor called him an “alarmist,” and continued to insist everyone would be safe. But… she doesn’t have a plan for it.

Anderson announced the birth of his son, via surrogate, on the April 30 broadcast of his show. Sharing a sweet photo of then three-day-old Wyatt, Anderson teared up and revealed that he named him after his own father, who died when he was 10. “I hope I can be as good a dad as he was,” he said. “I do wish my mom and dad and my brother, Carter, were alive to meet Wyatt, but I like to believe they can see him.”