‘They’ve hated each other for years,’ one senior staffer tells entertainment reporter
CNN’s audience got a glimpse of what media insiders say is a years-long, behind-the-scenes rivalry between star anchors Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper when Cooper mocked his colleague’s mistake during a live broadcast.
Tapper was caught on a hot mic while live on location in Alaska during CNN’s coverage of President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin. “I’m fine. Just give me my show back!” Tapper snapped, apparently unaware Cooper had tossed the broadcast to him. “The show’s back,” Cooper said live on the air while smirking.
According to entertainment reporter Robert Shuter, a former top-level celebrity publicist and editor, the exchange was a rare public airing into the CNN anchors’ long-running rivalry.
“Viewers thought it was a slip. Insiders know it was years of rivalry bubbling to the surface,” Shuter wrote in his Naughty But Nice Substack on Monday. “CNN may sell unity on screen, but #ShuterScoop can confirm: Cooper and Tapper are locked in a grudge match for the soul — and the spotlight — of CNN.”
One senior source told Shuter, “They’ve hated each other for years.”
“Both think they’re the smartest man in the room. Neither will play second fiddle,” the source continued.
“The smiles are only for the cameras,” another veteran staffer told Shuter. “Off-air? It’s ice cold.”
Shuter also reported Cooper and Tapper compete for high-profile interviews and primetime slots. Cooper apparently “relished” technical glitches that plagued Tapper’s interview with Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) soon after the hot mic moment, according to Shuter.
Tapper has a reputation for sending angry messages to other journalists and commentators who criticize him on social media. With the release of his book, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, Tapper hired a crisis public relations specialist to teach him how to be “nicer” to critics.
One network news insider suggested the rivalry between the two men is likely financial. Cooper, 58, is widely reported to make $18 million per year, while Tapper, 56, is believed to be making about half that amount.
Cooper and Tapper were both represented by United Talent Agency (UTA) for years. But in June, Cooper fired UTA in favor of Creative Artists Agency, which some industry observers interpreted as a sign he expects a drawn-out fight to maintain his outsized salary. Cooper is also a scion of the prestigious Vanderbilt family, once the richest family in the United States. The family still owns the North Carolina-based Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned home in America.
