'Disappointed': CNN's Anderson Cooper Trashed by Author Meryl Gordon Over 'Copycat' Book on Wealthy Astor Family
Meryl Gordon said she had "complicated feelings" about Cooper's new book.
Sept. 12 2023, Published 2:30 p.m. ET
Meryl Gordon, an author of a best-selling biography of legendary socialite Brooke Astor, was not impressed by Anderson Cooper's own work on the subject, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Gordon said it was "flattering, but it's a little annoying too" that Cooper referenced her book a staggering 39 times, adding that she would have "expected more" from the CNN anchor in his book on the heiress and her family set for release on September 19.
The CNN anchor's book is set for release in a few days.
Cooper is a "terrific reporter," she hailed. "He's really good at what he does and I was curious to see what he would come up with for this topic — and he seems to come up with my book."
"I was disappointed that he added so little to the story," she told DailyMail.com in a statement on Tuesday after reading Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune co-written by Katherine Howe.
"I've always really admired him so I was curious to see what he could do — and he only did one original interview with Annette de la Renta, but that's one interview."
Cooper was sent to Israel to cover the ongoing situation in Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
She also said on the Dedicated with Doug Brunt podcast that she had "complicated feelings about it."
"It sounds like a cliff-notes version of your book got into their book," Brunt commented.
Brooke's grandson, Philip, said he didn't get a call from Cooper or anyone on his team, according to Gordon who conducted 230 interviews for her novel.
Insiders claimed Cooper may be done with covering war zones after his Israel coverage.
Gordon pointed out that his book was not technically "plagiarism" nor did anything "legally wrong," but it certainly didn't live up to her expectations.
Her own book, Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach, was published in 2008, one year after Brooke's death and it covered their rise in society as well as the messy court drama after her son Anthony Marshall was accused of manipulating his mother to change her will.
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Brooke Astor died aged 105 in 2007.
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Marshall was found guilty of financially exploiting his mom and sentenced to years behind bars, though he only served eight weeks in 2013 before receiving medical parole. He died aged 89 in 2014.
Brooke's third and final husband, Vincent Astor, was famously the son of John Jacob Astor IV, one of the wealthiest passengers aboard the RMS Titanic when it sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in April 1912.
RadarOnline.com has reached out to a rep for Cooper for comment.
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