Many decades ago, Richard Gere helped Anderson Cooper discover his sexuality. During a Broadway production of Bent, the 11-year-old Cooper couldn’t help but stare at Gere’s beautiful body. “And I just remember being like, ‘Oh my God, I’m gay… I’m totally gay. I mean the opening scene… It is the gayest thing you can imagine,” Cooper told Andy Cohen.
The production revolved around two gay men in a Nazi concentration camp. The first scene opens with a naked man dressing in an SS uniform after a night with another man. “That was Richard Gere in 1977, Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” Cooper said. “He was so beautiful.”
As far as we can tell, Richard Gere is not gay
Richard Gere starred in a gay production that sparked Anderson Cooper’s sexual awakening, but the actor isn’t gay.
After the show ended, Gere and Cooper met backstage. “I couldn’t speak,” Cooper continued. “And I had my Playbill and I wanted to get him to autograph it, but I was too – I just couldn’t stop staring at his chest.”
Richard has been linked to many women, three of whom he married
Over his 50-year career, Gere has been linked to many women, including Penelope Milford, Sylvia Martins, Diane von Furstenberg, Laura Bailey, and Padma Lakshmi.
In 1991, Richard married Cindy Crawford; the couple divorced in 1995. In November 2002, Gere married actress Carey Lowell. Messy divorce proceedings followed their separation eleven years later, with the case spending three years in the New York judicial system.
Richard married Spanish activist Alejandra Silva in early April 2018. Gere sent Alejandra flowers until she agreed to go out with him. After the nuptials, Richard said:
“I’m the happiest man in the universe. How could I not be? I’m married to a beautiful woman who is smart, sensitive, committed to helping people, who’s fun, patient, who knows how to forgive, who’s a great cook – and who makes the best salads in the world!”
Gere and Alejandra have two children.