Anderson Cooper Christmas Party Canceled: Candle Prank Sparks Bitter Holiday Revenge

Anderson Cooper’s Christmas party has been canceled all due to a joke over his basil-scented candle. The host of AC360 was pranked by his colleagues on-air over the scent of his candle, and he was back a few nights later to get his revenge. Now, it seems his co-workers may have lost out on quite the holiday opportunity.

It all started when Cooper’s staff decided to pull a prank for one of Anderson’s “The RidicuList” segments. He learned as he read the teleprompter that his co-workers thought his basil-scented candle stunk to high heaven. He said he had put it in his office to try to create a pleasant work environment, but it backfired. People apparently hated the scene and decided to let him know in grand fashion.

It looks like Cooper got the last laugh, however. Anderson Cooper’s Christmas party, which apparently he’d just invited everybody to earlier on the day of the prank, was canceled, or so he teased. Cooper quipped during the new CNN segment that he had been planning to burn candles at his home the evening of the party, so the whole thing was off.

Mario Batali of The Chew had even been brought into the prank, unknowingly and unwillingly, when Anderson’s candle scent was compared to Mario’s Croc. As Mediaite notes, Cooper’s retaliatory segment of “The RidicuList” included some footage of Batali joking that he was thrilled that Anderson even knew who he was, and he decided perhaps he’d send the Croc to Cooper.

Cooper got a kick out of Batali’s reaction to the prank, and he said he hopes the Croc is sent. Anderson added that if he receives it, he’ll burn it in the middle of the newsroom,and his colleagues will rue the day they ever spoke ill of his expensive candle. Though the humor was lost on some, most fans of AC360 and the host saw this segment of “The RidicuList” for exactly what it was; a humorous response to the previous on-air prank.

Though Cooper is a serious news journalist, long-time fans know that he’s also got a great sense of humor. Anderson was clearly having some fun with this latest segment of “The RidicuList,” and it seems obvious to most that Anderson Cooper’s Christmas party cancellation was just a joke. Will he get deluged with scented candles as gifts should the big event take place? Some would say it’s probably pretty likely.

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