Anderson Cooper has talked about his child modeling days before, but he recently opened up about the disturbing experience that led him to quit.
Cooper started modeling at age 10, and worked for Ford Models. Earlier this week, he sat down with Howard Stern, who asked him why he stopped at age 13.
"I got propositioned by a photographer...a male," Cooper recalled. "He somehow got my number and called me up and offered me money, and it so freaked me out. I never told anybody. I just stopped. I was like, 'Forget it.'"
"At that point, you were obviously aware you were gay, but it wasn’t like you wanted to be with an adult man," Stern continued.
"Yeah, I was 13 years old. I wasn’t even thinking about sex with anybody," Cooper said. When asked if he thought the photographer knew he was gay, he said, "I don’t think he had any idea. You know, maybe he did—I honestly don’t know. I think he saw that I was on my own, that I didn’t have a parent or guardian there."
His comments begin at the 8:00 mark in the clip above. He shared his thoughts about Alec Baldwin and discussed his career in the same interview.