Gawker Identifies Boyfriend Of Closeted Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith

That Fox News anchor Shepard Smith is gay is fairly widely known, even though he has never publicly acknowledged it. He's even appeared in Out Magazine's annual ranking of the most powerful gays in America. But after a gossip column earlier this week reported that Smith had blown up at a downtown Manhattan cocktail waitress while on a night out with his boyfriend, Gawker went looking for the identity of said paramour. Smith, it turns out, is keeping it in-house.

Shepard Smith, the endlessly endearing (and easily angered) Fox News anchor, has likened the right-wing channel to a “family,” with president Roger Ailes as its domineering father. Which makes it only slightly awkward that in early 2012, the 49-year-old anchor started courting an attractive young production assistant who worked under him on Fox Report With Shepard Smith. Now they are a couple.  Gawker has learned that Smith is dating a 26-year-old Penn State grad and Fox Business producer named Giovanni “Gio” Graziano. According to multiple sources with knowledge of their relationship, the couple met sometime after Graziano started working at Fox Report in October 2011 as a production assistant. He’s the man with whom Smith frequents Bathtub Gin.  “Yes, that’s Shepard’s boyfriend,” Katya Minskova, the Bathtub Gin waitress Smith berated in March, confirmed to Gawker when shown a photo of Graziano. Another source who had seen them together at the Chelsea speakeasy confirmed Graziano’s identity as well. Both sources say they saw Graziano and Smith together at the bar on multiple occasions, and that they appeared to be romantically involved.

Graziano has not responded to numerous requests for comment.  A number of Gawker commenters are questioning why the site is "harassing" him.