Anderson Cooper Reveals How He Picks the DMs He'll Respond To, Says He Has Over 30,000 Unread Messages

Anderson Cooper is opening up about getting DMs from fans and how he chooses which ones get a response.

The 57-year-old CNN anchor opened up at a festival about making his All There Is with Anderson Cooper podcast and how he received 46 hours of phone calls for the first season.

“I mean, they’re just extraordinary,” Anderson said about the phone calls (via People). “I mean, I’ve spent months of my life listening to these calls. But what you learn is just the number, all the different kinds of grief. I mean, there’s nothing I’ve not heard of…”

Anderson also opened up about DMs he gets on Instagram.

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“In terms of direct messages on Instagram, I’m not sure how many. There’s got to be 30,000,” he said. “I go through my Instagram at the end of every day, like just messages that have been sent very quickly. And if it’s related to grief, I click on it and try and read it. I don’t necessarily open it, but I click on it and read it, and I will try to respond to somebody, even if it’s just a word or two, or a voice, note, but that’s hard.”

Anderson has actually created virtual friendships with some of his fans.

“I’m in constant contact with a number of people,” he said. “I haven’t met them, but there are people I call every week who have sent me voicemails and could use somebody to talk to. So I do.”

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