Friday morning's “Squawk on the Street” on CNBC turned awkward after co-anchor Simon Hobbs accidentally “outed” Apple CEO Tim Cook as being openly gay.
“I think Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact that he’s gay at the head of Apple isn’t he?” asked Hobbs to New York Times columnist Jim Stewart in discussing his upcoming column on John Browne. The former CEO of oil giant BP whose book, The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good For Business, details his life as a closeted executive.
“No,” Stewart answered after an awkward silence. “I don’t want to comment on anybody who might or might not be,” he added. “I’m not going to out anybody. I called a lot of people and no one at any major company would allowed their names to be used.”
Cook has never confirm or denied his sexual orientation.
