“Page Six” refrained from making any gay references in their item this morning about Anderson Cooper on vacation with his and Madonna’s friend Benjamin Maisani in Jaipur, India. Even though the CNN anchor was booked into a romantic $3,200-a-night suite with a four-poster mahogany bed. And even though Maisani is the owner of a gay bar. And a source told them that the large round bathtub in Anderson’s room was filled, on their first night there, “with bubbles and sprinkled with red rose petals.” Instead, “Page Six” made a jab about Anderson having to take the trip to console himself over his falling ratings, a poke that clearly had Fox News publicists exchanging high fives over their iced blood lattes this morning. Why did “Page Six” avoid any gay jokes in this seemingly flaming item?
Not because they’re afraid of getting sued for defamation, of course. It’s because they know there’s positively not one iota of gayness in this item. Let’s walk through it:
1. First of all, as any simple Google search will tell you, the Rambagh palace is literally flooded with bubbling water and rose petals — from the lobby to the gardens to the rooms. Had there been the complete duets of Peter Cetera also playing softly on the room speakers, that would have been a different thing entirely.
2. Additionally, all rooms in the hotel that would have been suitable for a celebrity (and Vanderbilt!) like Cooper are equipped with four-poster mahogany beds. This isn’t New York, where some flashy boutique hotel can buy a composite platform from Ikea and call it a day. They need something you can hang on to.
3. And the only suites with two beds that aren’t, say, the historic rooms of the Maharaja of Jaipur, are only furnished with tiny twin beds. Anyone would choose sleeping in a big king-size bed with a longtime platonic friend over squeezing into a twin alone. These are strapping guys! With big muscles!
4. Sure, Maisani is the owner of an East Village bar frequented by trendy gays. But you know what? So was Pete Wentz, for a while. And if anyone is heterosexual, it’s that guy.
Obviously, it was just a pair of guy friends enjoying a simple vacation to Jaipur, legendary home of the handsome Rajput warrior princes — a city so romantic it is literally tinted pink. Usually, you guys, the simplest explanation is the right one.
Lap of luxury [Page Six/NYP]
