--- title: Stephen Colbert, Anderson Cooper Share Moment About Grief description: Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper, who both experienced personal loss early in life, shared a touching moment about the role of grief. canonical: https://time.com/5653989/stephen-colbert-anderson-cooper-grief/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-08-16T15:45:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:04.426Z og:title: Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper Share Moment About Grief og:description: "What do you get from loss? You get awareness of other people’s loss" og:url: https://time.com/5653989/stephen-colbert-anderson-cooper-grief/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ea44d3b6ad08b0f/698a01858fd2eea76335ff60/stephen-colbert-anderson-cooper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper Share Moment About Grief twitter:description: "What do you get from loss? You get awareness of other people’s loss" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ea44d3b6ad08b0f/698a01858fd2eea76335ff60/stephen-colbert-anderson-cooper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper Share a Touching Moment About Grief Together > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: In Memoriam: Gloria Vanderbilt [Watch (HLS stream): In Memoriam: Gloria Vanderbilt](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AE3pf7qE.m3u8) (2:00)  _Published 2019-06-17. Gloria Vanderbilt, the intrepid heiress, artist and romantic who began her extraordinary life as the “poor little rich girl” of the Great Depression, survived family tragedy and multiple marriages, died Monday at the age of 95._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 16, 2019 3:45 PM UTC  NEW YORK - APRIL 10: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest Anderson Cooper during Wednesday's April 10, 2019 show. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images) NEW YORK - APRIL 10: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest Anderson Cooper during Wednesday's April 10, 2019 show. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images) CBS Photo Archive—CBS via Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 16, 2019 3:45 PM UTC While most associate [Stephen Colbert](https://time.com/5574104/stephen-colbert-mueller-report/) with the laughs that make up [_The Late Show with Stephen Colbert_](https://time.com/5648582/ron-burgundy-on-late-night-best-moments/), the late night host shared a more serious and tender moment with [Anderson Cooper](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1202917,00.html) during an appearance on the Thursday night show of _Anderson Cooper 360_. The men had a touching discussion about grief and loss and the influential role it played early on in both of their personal lives. Cooper was 10 years old when he lost his father to a heart attack; Colbert was the same age when [he lost his father and two of his brothers to a plane crash in 1974.](https://people.com/tv/stephen-colbert-plane-crash-killed-his-father-and-brothers-when-he-was-10/) At one point during the interview, Cooper began tearing up when asking Colbert about comments he had made about learning to “love the thing that I most wish had not happened.” “You went on to say, ‘What punishments of God are not gifts?’ Do you really believe that?” Cooper asked. “Yes,” Colbert said. “It’s a gift to exist and with existence comes suffering. There’s no escaping that.” He later elaborated on the role that grief and loss can play in life. “What do you get from loss? You get awareness of other people’s loss, which allows you to connect with that other person, which allows you to love more deeply and to understand what it’s like to be a human being if it’s true that all humans suffer.” Cooper also talked about the [recent loss of his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt](https://time.com/5608319/gloria-vanderbilt-dies/) and thanked Colbert for the compassionate letter he wrote him after her death. “You said ‘I hope you find peace in your grief,'” Cooper said. He then shared that talking about grief both online and in-person with others who also experienced loss was how he has been finding his peace. “I found that the most helpful thing, I found it to be the most powerful and moving thing,” Cooper said. “And I kind of, oddly, don’t want that to stop because in regular times, people don’t do that.” Watch Anderson Cooper’s interview with Stephen Colbert below. > [](https://twitter.com/AC360/status/1162181766842585090) > [](https://twitter.com/AC360/status/1162183695270387712) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5653989/stephen-colbert-anderson-cooper-grief/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5653989/stephen-colbert-anderson-cooper-grief/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper Share a Touching Moment About Grief Together","datePublished":"2019-08-16T15:45:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:04.426Z","description":"\"What do you get from loss? 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