During CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage, the network cut to anchor Randi Kaye who was stationed in Denver, Colorado. Kaye rode the Cannibus, a party bus filled with marijuana enthusiasts, and showed off a gas mask, explaining to fellow anchors Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen how it works.
This was a strategic decision as the network wanted to show how marijuana enthusiasts celebrate the ball dropping, an event that is typically overflowing with alcohol. However, at one point during the broadcast Kaye was shown holding a burning joint, given to her amidst a “puff, pass, and paint” party, though she never partook on camera.
FOX News took extreme umbrage with this, as you might expect. One segment asked if cannabis legalization was inevitable or “a blight on the nation” while Sean Hannity called CNN the “fake news cannabis news network.”
Anderson Cooper then stopped by Stephen Colbert’s Late Show to explain CNN’s action with a rather simple defense.
“First of all, it’s legal in Colorado. We are grown adults and she did not smoke obviously. She was just in the environment,” Cooper said, referring to Kaye. “The whole thing surprised me as much as anyone else.”
Colbert also questioned Cooper if he’s surprised at the spreading legalization of marijuana and he replied, “”Not really. Think about California. I mean it makes sense.”
