YouTube star Hannah Hart said last week
that CNN anchor Anderson Cooper influenced her decision to come out
gay.
Hart, who is best known for starring in
her YouTube series My Drunk Kitchen, was presented with
GLAAD's Davidson/Valentini Award at its Gala San Francisco on
Thursday.
In accepting the award, Hart, 29, said
that Cooper's 2012 coming out “meant the world” to her.
“I was like, 'Oh my God, if I start
to work in entertainment, is there going to be a day where I have to
come out?' Well, I don't really feel like I have to come out. Maybe
I should just do that right now. Should I just tell everybody the
story of what it was like for me to come out in this moment?” she
rhetorically asked.
“And so I did and it was so much
harder than I thought it would be,” she
added.
Hart later got emotional as she
expressed how much the recognition meant to her. Hart has previously
talked about growing up in a homophobic house.