Paranoid Andy Cohen Cuts Off ‘Real Housewives’ Stars After Leaks and Lawsuits
Andy Cohen might want Bravo stars to put it all out there. But when it comes to himself, he’s playing things close to the vest.
Andy Cohen is ‘tired of handing people ammunition’
Amid scandalous leaks and lawsuits, the Watch What Happens Live host has cut off much communication with the network’s stars. That includes the Real Housewives cast members he used to have on speed dial, according to a new report.
“Andy used to text the women constantly,” an insider told Radar Online. “Gossip, reassurance, damage control, late-night check-ins. But that version of Andy is gone.”
“He got tired of handing people ammunition,” the source added.
Cohen is currently the target of a lawsuit from Real Housewives of New York alum Leah McSweeney, who is claiming a toxic work environment and retaliation. She’s accused Cohen and Bravo execs of working with other Housewives to coordinate a smear campaign against her. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville also sued Cohen in 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment. And earlier this year, Cohen spoke out after someone leaked explosive audio recordings from the Summer House Season 10 reunion ahead of the episode’s broadcast.
The incidents have made Cohen ultra-cautious.
“Now, if something sensitive needs discussing, it goes through producers, lawyers or a phone call,” a different insider told the publication. “Andy does not want anything sitting in somebody else’s camera roll.”
Leah McSweeney claims Andy Cohen did drugs with ‘Real Housewives’ stars
Cohen and Bravo have tried to get McSweeney’s lawsuit dismissed. But in March, a judge ordered that it go to trial rather than private arbitration. McSweeney – who appeared on RHONY for two seasons in 2020 and 2021 – alleges in her suit that Cohen engaged in “cocaine use with Housewives and other ‘Bravolebrities’ that he employs.” The Housewives who took drugs with Cohen got “more favorable treatment and edits,” she claims.
McSweeney also says that Cohen leaned on those relationships to smear her in the press. He “either directly requested or induced current and former Real Housewives cast members publicly disparage McSweeney’s character, and propensity for truthfulness, to curry favor with Cohen in the hopes that such favor would propel their entertainment careers,” according to her filing.
Cohen has denied that he uses cocaine with Bravo stars, saying that McSweeney’s claims are based on anonymous reports from other cast members, not her firsthand experience.
McSweeney “does not cite a single instance in which she witnessed any cocaine use,” Cohen’s lawyers said (via People). “Nor does she even allege that she was aware of any of the above-referenced ‘evidence’ before she made her Complaint.”
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