Bravo stalwart Andy Cohen has managed to “walk tall” following a lawsuit alleging his abuse and general toxicity toward various Real Housewives stars. As Bravo cleared him of any wrongdoing this week, days after he appeared in a Hollywood Reporter cover story and walked the carpet at the Met Gala, Cohen has somehow come out of the legal mess unscathed.
In March, former Real Housewife Leah McSweeney sued Cohen, Bravo, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros Discovery, and Real Housewives of New York City production company Shed Media. In her suit, she accused Cohen of using “cocaine with his employees to further promote a workplace culture that thrives off drug and alcohol abuse, which leads to a failure to accommodate employees who are disabled and attempting to remain substance free.”
McSweeney and Cohen’s reps traded blows in the press as the scandal unfolded, with some franchise stars defending Cohen and others siding with McSweeney and adding accusations of their own—like Kathy Griffin, who seemingly confirmed McSweeney’s allegations of cocaine use. Weeks before, another Housewives star, Brandi Glanville, accused Cohen of inviting her to watch a sexual act over FaceTime. Cohen quickly addressed that accusation on social media, saying in a statement that the interaction was “in jest,” but apologizing nonetheless.
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Cohen has continued to swat away the accusations from his former employees, as he enlisted help from Johnny Depp and Harvey Weinstein’s former crisis manager. And so far it’s worked: His cover story in THR this week, in which he called the allegations against him “hurtful” and said he had “no regrets” about how he’s handled “anything,” was a showcase of his continued success in the entertainment industry through the years since his first job as a desk assistant in 1990 at CBS.
The goodwill toward Cohen has been bolstered by those in his inner circle. After THR questioned the host about his close friendship with John Mayer, the singer wrote a letter to the publication defending “a relationship like ours” and asserting that “reinforcing the idea that any gay/straight relationship needs qualification that it’s not sexual devoids everyone involved of their dignity.” That came just days after a beaming Cohen attended the Met Gala with friend-date Sarah Jessica Parker—suggesting his A-list friends aren’t batting an eye at the accusations against him.
The cherry on top of Cohen’s week was the news that Bravo is renewing his talk show Watch What Happens Live!, following an “outside” investigation into the claims made against him, which the network says were “unsubstantiated.” With the green light on another season, it seems the legal drama hit the host like a tiny pebble would a giant.
