Posted on 06/30/2014 1:11:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The TV reporter was caught up in a discussion about the rarity of openly gay CEOs when he said, ‘I think Tim Cook is open about the fact he’s gay.’
Simon Hobbs is likely wishing he could press rewind.
The CNBC co-anchor spoke too soon during a live segment of "Squawk on the Street" Friday when he accidentally outed Apple CEO Tim Cook.
New York Times columnist and CNBC contributor James B. Stewart spoke about his recent column dealing with the "tortured life" former BP chief John Browne led as a closeted gay CEO.
"I just found it very, very fascinating," Stewart said about Browne being the first CEO of a Fortune 500 or FTSE 100 company to publicly acknowledge that he is gay after being outed by a tabloid.
Shortly after, Browne resigned from BP in 2007.
"Of course, there are gay CEOs in major companies," Stewart continued. "I reached out to many of them."
Upon speaking to the closeted gay CEOs Stewart was aware of, he realized how none were willing to be identified although their initial interaction was pleasant.
"I got an extremely cool reception," he recalled, adding that "not one would allow to be named at all."
"I think Tim Cook is open about the fact he's gay at the head of Apple," Hobbs said. "Isn't he?"
An awkward silence followed as Hobbs quickly realized his snafu.
"Hmm, no," Stewart said shaking his head.
"Oh dear, was that an error?" Hobbs asked. "I thought he was open about it."
While Cook has been candid about his support of LGBT rights, he has never publicly spoken out about his own sexuality or addressed Hobbs remarks.
"I applaud @WhiteHouse decision to ban #LGBT discrimination at fed contractors," he tweeted June 17. "House must act on #ENDA. A matter of basic human dignity."
Confirming Hobbs error, co-anchor David Faber said, "Wow, I think you just … yeah."
Still Hobbs tried to conceal his mistake by saying, "I think he's very open about it."
I was getting into Halt and Catch Fire until they had to go homo. Sad. Good story.
I heard that “The Last Ship” - which was even promoted on conservative talk radio shows - took about 40 minutes to go homo.
We’ve been talking about Timmy being gay on FR for years and years, and it’s not like we’re privy to the insider secrets of corporate America.
Halt and Catch ????
“What an enormous surprise!” said absolutely no one.
No question Apple is a gay company whether or not the CEO is.
Me too, but I refuse to be entertained by filthy homosexuality.
Just because he’s from Alabama?
Yea, I bet he did.
The fact is almost all the people with on air jobs in the MSM are homosexual.
It almost seems like that is how they got their jobs.
They think all other professions should be dominated by homosexuals.
I didn't notice - then again, it was so poorly written, and so many gaping holes in the plot, I could barely watch it.
Even the new show Tyrant had to throw some homo in there too . .
effers
“Timmy, we hardly knew ye,” thank God!
One of the female Leutenants made a comment about how she and her girlfriend had intended to go to Paris.
So even as a reference it was somewhat ambiguous. I think that I was more startled by my automatic reaction that it was a gay ref than anything else. Shows how acclimated society is (by intent) to immediately read a comment like that as gay when there are other options.
Like with the “and another reason” by Gobber in How to Train Your Dragon 2; considering how many body parts the guy is missing it could also just be interpreted that his man parts are wherever his arm, leg, tooth, etc are.
Interesting. Apple’s CEO is hay? Didn’t know that. Changes nothing for me really. I own few apple products.
They already admitted that was a gay reference.
Well unless you’re using LINUX, you’re guilty anyway by FR standards.
Microsoft execs are significant funders of gay marriage initiative.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was apparently only a bad policy for the US Military. When it happens at the top ranks of America’s liberal sponsoring corporations and in the newsrooms, well it is just to advance the agenda without appearing to be self-serving.
Not exactly a revelation....... Been known for quite a while.
Dammit.. I was planning to start watching Tyrant.
Go Homo = chg channel immediately for me.
I am one of the 98% normal who are disgusted by homos forced on me.
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