Anderson Cooper Throws Shade at Antigay Anchor

Antigay hecklers couldn't resist commenting when the CNN anchor said he's impressed by the first-ever active men's Division I basketball player to come out.

BY Lucas Grindley

April 12 2014 2:47 PM ET

Damian Goddard's Twitter profile photo, Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper gets his fair share of antigay tweets and rarely responds. But when a former sportscaster in Canada knocked him for supporting newly out Division I basketball player Derrick Gordon, Cooper had enough.

The CNN anchor wrote on Thursday that he was "Watching @flash2gordon speak abou being out and proud, he is incredibly courageous and inspiring."

Damian Goddard read that tweet and added a snarky "And don't forget, lost." Then Goddard tweeted at Cooper to ensure his point got across. See the exchange below:

.@heydamo with that tie and pocket square combo I am praying for you too my friend

— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) April 10, 2014

Goddard was host of Sportsnet’s Connected before capping a string of disciplinary issues with an offensive tweet in 2011. Goddard backed a hockey player who'd condemned the NHL's Sean Avery over his support of marriage equality. Then he used that moment as a platform to star in an anti-marriage equality ad in Maine in 2012.

For his follow-up to Cooper, Goddard distanced himself from his pocket square, saying, "I'll pass that along to the stylists at Rogers Communications Inc."