CNBC co-anchor Simon Hobbs had a major faux pas on TV on Friday, June 27, when he accidentally outed Apple CEO Tim Cook as gay during a live segment. Hobbs and the other anchors were talking to New York Times columnist James B. Stewart about gay CEOs in major companies.
"I got an extremely cool reception, not one would allow to be named at all," Stewart said.
Hobbs then noted, "I think Tim Cook is open about the fact he's gay at the head of Apple, isn't he?"
The comment was met with silence before Stewart shook his head saying, "Hmm, no."
"Oh dear, was that an error?" Hobbs asked. "I thought he was open about it."
Cook has not responded to the public outing and has never publicly acknowledged his sexual orientation, but on June 17 he tweeted, "I applaud @WhiteHouse decision to ban #LGBT discrimination at fed contractors. House must act on #ENDA. A matter of basic human dignity."
