Footage of comedian and talk show host Stephen Colbert and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper discussing grief has gone viral, with many hailing the pair for their real and raw exchange.
The conversation was part of a recent showing of Anderson Cooper 360掳, which aired Thursday, and was later tweeted from the showB次元官网网址檚 official account. As of Saturday morning, the clip had been viewed eight million times.
Sitting across from each other on the set of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the portion of the segment posted online begins with Cooper reading a comment made by Colbert in a previous interview.
B次元官网网址淵ou told the interviewer that you have learned to, in your words, B次元官网网址榣ove the things that I wish had not happened,B次元官网网址� Cooper says.
Choking back tears, Cooper continues: B次元官网网址淵ou went on to say, B次元官网网址榳hat punishments of gods are not gifts.B次元官网网址� Do you really believe that?B次元官网网址�
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The Washington, D.C.-born comedian simply replies with a B次元官网网址測es,B次元官网网址� adding that B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 a gift to exist and with existence comes suffering. ThereB次元官网网址檚 no escaping that.B次元官网网址�
The two TV personalities both suffered loss early in life. ColbertB次元官网网址檚 father and two of his brothers were killed in a plane crash in 1974, when he was aged 10.
Cooper was also 10 years old when his father died of a heart attack. When he was 21 years old, CooperB次元官网网址檚 brother died by suicide.
Colbert goes on to clarify that his view on loss is a paraphrase of a quote originating from J.R.R. Tolkien in the B次元官网网址楲ord of the RingsB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� a series of novels Colbert read as a young boy.
The rest of the segment includes the pair discussing what Colbert calls the B次元官网网址渘ormal griefB次元官网网址� he felt alongside his eight siblings after his mother died at the age of 92.
B次元官网网址淚t might seem selfish to want more of someone youB次元官网网址檝e known so long, but it merely amplifies the enormity of the room whose door is now so quietly shut B次元官网网址� like you canB次元官网网址檛 ever open that door again,B次元官网网址� he says.
B次元官网网址淏ut on top of that we realize, B次元官网网址榦h, now we also lost dad and the boys. In some ways we were here for her because of the loss of her husband and her children, and when she went she kind of took them with her,B次元官网网址� he continues, adding that his motherB次元官网网址檚 death led him to re-grieve.
You said "what punishment of gods are not gifts. Do you really believe that?" , choking back tears, asks Stephen Colbert, as they discuss grief.
B次元官网网址� Anderson Cooper 360掳 (@AC360)
"Yes," replies the comedian. "It's a gift to exist and with existence comes suffering. There's no escaping that."
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