Anderson Cooper Defends Anne Hathaway After Oscar Criticism: "Give Her a Break!"

Talk show host says people form critical opinions "based on nothing"

Anderson Cooper has jumped to Anne Hathaway's defense a day after Lena Dunham did the same.

The Best Supporting Actress winner has been criticized by some for her Oscar acceptance speech (with some tabloids even claiming she practiced to be more "likeable"), but the Anderson Live host is firing back at Hathaway's haters, slamming those who form critical opinions about her "based on nothing."

"In our morning meeting today, we were talking about this and the level of hatred people have towards Anne Hathaway; I had no idea. She seems like a perfectly lovely person," Anderson said. "I don't understand. She's incredibly talented, she seems like a lovely person, I think she's been through a lot. People have all these judgments about her; they don't know what she's really like… It upset me, because so many of the people on my staff today were like, 'Ugh, that speech she gave at the Oscars, it was so perfect.'" 

Cooper's cohost Isha Sesay then chimes in, claiming Anne's speech was "terrible" and "disingenuous."

"First of all, you know what a bad speech at the Oscars is?" Anderson fires back. "Everybody else's speech—when they are like, 'I want to thank my Uncle Mordecai, my agent, my management team.' That's a bad speech. She got up there, she made eye contact, she remembered people's names without reading it. I mean, give her a break," he says as the audience applauds.

Sesay subsequently shares her opinion (we're thinking she's not a fan), insisting a "good speech would be like the Ben Affleck speech" because it was "genuine." 

Cue the fiery response from the Anne Hathaway fan club president, "The amount of pressure she must feel knowing all these people hate her—give her a break; she seems like a lovely young person. Again, people form all these opinions on people based on nothing. You have no actual evidence."

The debate then turns to Jennifer Lawrence's likeability, as Anderson continues to defend Anne:

"You don't think that fall was rehearsed?" Cooper jokes of J.Law's epic tumble. "I've got no dog in this hunt. I don't know Anne Hathaway. It just seems so completely unfair to me. I had no idea this whole hatred existed, I feel like I've just woken up and realized the entire universe is attacking her and I feel bad for her and I am defending her."