By Meredith Goldberg-Morse

Air travel must be rough for the famous. In addition to the never-ending security lines, overly intrusive pat-downs and the germ-infested recycled air that we common folk have to deal with, celebs have the additional stress of being trapped in an enclosed space with potentially overzealous fans and no viable means of escape. Anderson Cooper became fed up with one such admirer on a recent cross-country flight, causing the typically docile television personality to verbally school the offending fan. Guess that’s the price you pay for flying commercial, Anderson.

Perhaps it was the empowering presence of seatmate Johnny Weir, but Cooper became uncharacteristically “emboldened” when a nearby passenger attempted to snap a photo of the journalist as he tried to take a little snooze on the early-morning flight. Cooper’s reaction? To grab the offender’s shoulder and pose the justifiable question: “B**ch, what the … are you doing?”

He later regretted the knee-jerk reaction, but personally, we’re big advocates of sassy Anderson Cooper. And not only does the snap-happy fan have a blurry iPhone photo to document his proximity to the Silver Fox, but a kick-ass story go to with it. There are worse ways to pass the time on a transcontinental flight than being scolded by the most attractive man on CNN.