Andy Cohen acknowledged that a video he’d sent to a former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star that she claimed was sexually harassing was “totally inappropriate,” but insisted that it had been sent—and received—“in jest.”
His response came hours after Page Six reported it had obtained a letter from ex-Housewife Brandi Glanville’s attorneys to NBCUniversal, Shed Media, and Warner Bros., claiming that an “obviously inebriated” Cohen had sent her a video in 2022 telling her of “his intention to sleep with another Bravo star that night while thinking of her” and inviting her “to watch via FaceTime.”
The incident was characterized by Glanville’s lawyers as “an extraordinary abuse of power” by Cohen, her boss at the time, that left her feeling “trapped and disgusted.”
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It continued: “It is inconceivable that Mr. Cohen remains in his post in spite of this behavior and harkens back to the bad old days of Matt Lauer and NBC News when profits were prioritized over people.”
Glanville’s letter did not name the other star who allegedly appeared in the video, but Cohen identified her as a well-known cast member on Bravo shows Below Deck and The Traitors in his tweeted statement.
“The video shows Kate Chastain and I very clearly joking to Brandi,” the Watch What Happens Live host wrote. “It was absolutely meant in jest, and Brandi’s response clearly communicated she was in on the joke. That said, it was totally inappropriate and I apologize.”
When approached by New York magazine for comment on Cohen’s response, Glanville’s lawyers said in a statement that it was “yet another example of the abusive practices of the reality TV industry,” and encouraged other abused former cast members of reality shows to come forward.
“We know there are untold numbers of innocent victims who have yet to tell their stories or seek legal redress,” the statement read. “We encourage all of them to contact us and join our growing team as we fight for change in this sordid industry.”
Glanville’s lawyers are industry heavyweights Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, the same attorneys who signed up to represent former Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel after accused television executives of systemically mistreating and exploiting the people in front of the cameras on their biggest reality shows.
Geragos told Variety last July that he’d heard from around 50 victims who’d been abused and mistreated on the sets of docuseries and reality shows. “Something has to change because the current system is broken,” he said. In a legal letter sent to NBC and Bravo in August on behalf of “a significant number of individuals,” he and Freedman accused the networks of “grotesque and depraved mistreatment” of its stars.
Glanville herself was accused of sexual harassment by another Bravo figure earlier this month. Caroline Manzo, a former Real Housewives of New Jersey star, claimed that Glanville had forcibly kissed her and “groped, grabbed, and forcibly fondled [her] vagina and breasts” during the filming of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Morocco. Manzo said that producers had been aware of the alleged harassment as it happened, but did not step in.
Glanville has denied Manzo’s allegations.
