Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons

Who would cheat on Anderson Cooper? If photographs published by the Daily Mail yesterday evening are to be believed, his boyfriend would.

The photos show a rather well-lit Ben Maisani, the boyfriend in question, kissing another man in a New York park. Maisani, owner of Manhattan bar Eastern Bloc, has purportedly been with the silver fox of journalism for three years. Their relationship was brought into the limelight after the newsman’s announcement of his sexuality in an interview with The Daily Beast earlier this summer. According to the Mail, a wedding date was set for this fall.

The whole thing has shades of another celebrity affair that erupted earlier this summer: Kristen Stewart’s affair with married Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, including rather revealing photos and a relationship that’s never been publicly confirmed. Unlike Stewart and ex-beau Robert Pattinson’s split, however, it’s unlikely that either man will be making any public statements about the photos. Additionally, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t even split up.

The modern portrait of a relationship is changing, especially in queer and metropolitan circles. Open relationships are seemingly becoming more and more popular, and frankly, no one knows exactly how Cooper and Maisani’s relationship works except for Cooper and Maisani. Perhaps their relationship is open; perhaps the photos aren’t from when the Mail is reporting; perhaps Maisani actually was cheating. There are plenty of possibilities.

It’ll be interesting to watch how this news develops, especially because it’s one of the first instances in recent memory of a gay celebrity relationship coming under major media scrutiny because of a perceived indiscretion. If theirs turns out to be an open relationship, how will the media process this? Even among straight folks, open relationships are pretty harshly judged — think about Mo’Nique and her husband’s marriage. If the photos are old, then the question becomes ‘how old?’ And if Cooper and Masani’s relationship is headed towards a breakup, then he’s about to become the gay community’s most eligible bachelor. Whichever way it breaks down, Cooper’s in for a bumpy ride. Let’s just hope he doesn’t leave the house looking like Stewart did.