Anderson Cooper is a mainstay of CNN's New Year's Eve coverage, and his antics with his best friend and co-host Andy Cohen often go viral.
But on New Year's Eve 2025, Cooper took a minute away from his usual silliness to acknowledge something that he and millions of others deal with over the holidays: grief.
"I started volunteering to work on New Year's Eve 20-something years ago, because, since I was a kid, I've actually dreaded this night. And I think a lot of you may be out there watching, or watching it through different eyes than some of the people in this crowd," the CNN anchor told the camera.
He went on to describe New Year's Eve 1977, when he and his older brother, Carter, watched the ball drop in Times Square while their father was in the hospital.
"We knew it was bad, but not how bad," he said. "I remember this night, all those years ago, watching Dick Clark, and all the shots of the crowd that you're seeing right now, all the merriment, and the people together, and I've never felt so alone."
Cooper's father, Wyatt Emory Cooper, died days later, on January 5, 1978, when Cooper was just 10 years old. His brother would die by suicide 10 years later, in 1988.
"And I mention this tonight, because some of you watching right now, maybe a lot of you watching tonight, may see all these crowds, and the merriment, and feel alone, even if there are others around you. Maybe someone you love is sick, or they've already crossed that mysterious threshold we know virtually nothing about, and you long to see them or hear them or feel them again."
Regardless of what kind of grief a person may be feeling, whether it's the loss of a loved one or some other kind of loss, "I just want you to know, that in the midst of all of [these celebrations], which is not really real, what you are feeling, is. And you are not the only one."
"You may feel alone tonight, but you are not alone."
Watch his full message here:
