BRAVO'S COHEN IN A FREEFALL?
As Housewives lob accusations of serious mistreatment, is...
IT’S big business being Andy Cohen. The King of Bravo has built an estimated $30 million empire, mainly on being the face of the “Real Housewives” brand and merrily doing shots with A-listers on his talk show.
He’s won an Emmy and two Peabodies for his work, continues to be the executive producer on all 11 “Real Housewives” franchises and hosts “Watch What Happens Live” five nights a week — all with a knowing twinkle in his eye. He is proud to be the first openly gay host of an American latenight talk show.
But is Cohen’s empire crumbling?
Over the past year, the 55year-old and the network where he made his name have been rocked by a string of scandals surrounding the “Housewives” brand, prompting Cohen to take advice from one of NYC’s top crisis experts. (Sources close to Cohen are quick to say that he has not hired the expert.)
Accusers claim that Cohen manipulates cast members as a means of control.
Just this week, Page Six exclusively revealed that former “Real Housewives of New York City” star Leah McSweeney, 41, is suing Cohen and Bravo for allegedly preying on her alcoholism during filming, in order to fuel drama among the cast.
Her bombshell lawsuit also claimed that Cohen, a dad of two, snorts cocaine with a coterie of Housewives: “In fact,” claim the papers filed in the Southern District of New York, “Cohen tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment and [makes them appear more agreeably in] edits [of their shows].”
“The claims against Andy are completely false,” a rep for Cohen told Page Six.
“How does someone yield so much power at a network?” asked Hollywood lawyer Bryan Freedman, who is working with many former “Housewives” stars. Among them is “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum Brandi Glanville, who last month accused Cohen of sexually harassing her.
Game to ‘play’
“Andy Cohen operates with a carrot-and-stick approach,” Freedman claimed to Page Six. “Brandi is a great example of this. Every once in a while she would get a job from him, but she was always afraid that she wouldn’t be hired again.”
Former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star NeNe Leakes — who in 2022 dropped a discrimination lawsuit against Cohen and Bravo — has referred to friendship with Cohen as “a real game” all the “Housewives” have to play.
“The people who have gone against Andy, like NeNe Leaks, essentially can’t get hired again,” Freedman alleged
Glanville, 51, meanwhile, claims that Cohen sent her a video in 2022, in which he appeared “obviously inebriated.”
Cohen, 55, allegedly “boasted” in the clip that he wanted to “sleep with another Bravo star” while “thinking” of Glanville and invited the former “Housewives” star to watch him engage in the sexual act via FaceTime, per a scathing letter that Freedman sent to NBC, Shed Media and Warner Bros.
“The video shows Kate Chastain and I very clearly joking to Brandi. 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,” Cohen shared via social media.
“The claims against Andy are completely false,” a rep for Cohen told Page Six in response to the lawsuit.
So how did Cohen, originally from St. Louis, Mo., get here? It all started with a 2005 pilot for a docuseries called “Behind The Gates,” which Cohen — then Bravo’s executive vice president of development and talent — developed into “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” alongside other NBCUniversal and Bravo execs.
The show debuted on March 21, 2006, and, as Cohen told Forbes, “We didn’t even know what we were doing . . . We just believed in the women and we believed that we could create a reality soap opera.”
“WWHL” launched in July 2009 and Cohen has two channels on SiriusXM radio, as well as a string of best-selling books including “The Andy Cohen Diaries.”
‘Trying to diminish’
A Bravo insider told Page Six that, “Andy hasn’t been an exec at Bravo since 2013. As one of many producers of the ‘Housewives’ shows, he weighs in on show casting, returning series and other production decisions . . . Andy does not have final say or more influence than other producers associated with the ‘Housewives’ shows or than the leadership team at the network.”
Bethenny Frankel, a former star of “The Real Housewives of New York City,” said his role shouldn’t be minimized.
“Andy Cohen and Bravo keep trying to diminish his role when convenient for them, but the fact remains that he has every cast member on speed dial, watches casting tapes, decides who comes and goes, is instrumental in the editing process and hosts and owns the marquis show that determines what Bravo talent looks good or is trashed in the headlines every single day,” Frankel told Page Six.
Cohen is still the executive producer for multiple “Housewives” shows, which include Beverly Hills, New York City, New Jersey, Atlanta, Potomac, Salt Lake City, Dallas and Miami.
And there are plenty of loyal “Housewives” who have his back.
“He’s like an older brother. I’ve always felt comfortable calling him if I was upset about something — anything,” Heather Dubrow of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” told Page Six.
While Dubrow said that filming the show is “definitely stressful,” she insisted that she has never been forced to drink while filming — and never been exploited.
As for the coke rumors, she said: “I’ve been on ‘Watch What Happens Live’ a million times. I have never seen drugs, heard about drugs, nothing ever . . .
Kyle Richards of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” meanwhile, told Page Six she “never felt like alcohol was being forced.”
Margaret Josephs of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” said, “making Andy a target . . . is so upsetting to me.”
‘She clearly suffered’
Ashley Darby of “The Real Housewives of Potomac” told Page Six that Cohen has always been “professional” with her.
But she did concede that, “In
evitably, especially some of the ladies who he’s known for longer . . . I can see him having a different rapport, right?”
Glanville, for one, said she was “elated” McSweeney had taken a stand and that she supports her “100%”
“Leah is a very strong woman who went through hell and knows how important it is to get the truth out,” Glanville told Page Six. “She clearly suffered and deserves support from others like myself that have experienced similar abusive situations.
“This has been a long time coming. Hopefully others living in fear will have the strength to go up against these giants.”
‘Vicious cycle’
Last year, Frankel, now a multimillionaire entrepreneur, sparked a socalled “reality reckoning” — railing loudly against Bravo, Cohen and alleged mistreatment of Housewives.
She alleged that although women freely sign up for the show, it often turns into a “vicious cycle . . . of lives being ruined and the promise of redemption by producers if they go back one more time to clear their name.”
The mother of one added: “It’s also well known and documented that several Housewives have experienced mental and emotional illness and have begun or increased their use of anti anxiety and drug medication to cope.”
Bravo insiders are keen to dispel these rumors, however.
“We handle our stars with kid gloves, with a sensitivity and a thoughtfulness, [and] we do become invested,” one network insider told Page Six. “We protect them because they are being vulnerable and opening up their lives to the public.”
Another production source claimed that Frankel had pitched three shows to Bravo in recent years — a TV version of her now-canceled podcast “ReWives,” a series featuring the children of Housewives, and a “The Real Housewives of Connecticut” franchise with her producing — all of which were turned down.
‘Obscene’ scene
She also wanted to be a bartender on “WWHL” and feature her Mingle Mocktails range, according to the source.
Attorney Freedman is also representing Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, of Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules,” who this week sued costars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix for revenge porn, eavesdropping, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy following the revelation of her affair with Sandoval.
Freedman told Page Six that he and fellow attorney Mark Geragos are on a mission to get reality TV stars covered by the actors union, and to free them from their strict NDAs.
“The idea that human beings are expected to sacrifice their mental health in service of Bravo’s ratings is obscene,” he said. “Many of their employees are suffering in silence due to brazen and calculated actions by NBC and Bravo.”
As for the most recent allegation, a NBCU spokesperson said: “We are conducting an investigation,” while a Bravo spokesperson added: “For the last several years we have been working with our third party production companies to enhance our protocols including stricter guidelines on alcohol consumption, direction on when to intervene to maintain the safety of cast and crew, increased psychological support, enhanced workplace trainings, more serious consequences for physical violence on set, and a . . . direct line to NBCUniversal to raise concerns.
“A number of claims that were made by Leah McSweeney were previously investigated and unsubstantiated.”
Meanwhile, the Bravo insider believes the success of “Housewives” is its own best defense.
“This brand could not last this long if it was truly toxic. People love it.”