Anderson Cooper pretended to be a woman named ‘Monica’ on Instagram

On Monday, Anderson Cooper dropped by “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” where he shared a story about his mother Gloria Vanderbilt and how he helped her sell her artwork on Instagram.

“I created an account for her artwork to get her out of bed and paint and she was like, ‘Well, who's going to deal with the customers?’” Cooper recalled. “And there really wasn't anyone to deal with the customers so I was like, ‘I know what you're asking, I'll do it.’”

Since Cooper is a famous news anchor, his mom came up with a way to interact with customers.

“She was like, ‘Okay, why don't we invent a lady of a certain age named Monica and who's a long time trusted assistant and you be Monica and you answer all the DMs on Instagram to buy my artwork," Cooper said. "And that's what I did for three years."

While Cooper never revealed his true identity to customers, his role as a news anchor on CNN sometimes crossed paths with his side hustle as Monica.”

“Literally, I'd be in Baghdad, you know in between things I'd be like, ‘Would you like a laminated white frame?’ - as Monica,” Cooper laughed.

Video Transcript

ANDERSON COOPER: I got her on Instagram, and then I create an account for her artwork to get her out of bed and paint. And she was like, well, who's going to deal with the customers? And there really wasn't anyone to deal with the customers. So I was like, I know what you're asking, I'll do it.

KYLIE MAR: On Monday, Anderson Cooper stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers where he shared a story about his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, and how he helped her sell her artwork on Instagram.

ANDERSON COOPER: She was like, OK, why don't we invent a lady of a certain age named Monica and who is a longtime trusted assistant. And you be Monica, and you answer all the DMs on Instagram to buy my artwork. And that's what I did for three years.

KYLIE MAR: While Anderson never revealed his true identity to customers, his role as a News anchor on CNN sometimes crossed paths with his side hustle as Monica.

ANDERSON COOPER: Literally, I'd be in Baghdad and, you know, in between things, I'd be like, would you like a laminated white frame-- yeah, as Monica.

KYLIE MAR: And while Anderson was on the show to sell his new book about the Vanderbilt dynasty, he admitted Monica would often spill the tea for free.

ANDERSON COOPER: People would be like, what's it like working from his Vanderbilt. I was like, Oh, she's so lovely.