EXCLUSIVE: Lower than every week earlier than NBCUniversal’s massive pitch to advertisers within the Massive Apple, Andy Cohen the jewel within the media large’s Actuality TV crown isn’t shining so vibrant in any case.
Regardless of Bravo’s insistence that an investigation by an outdoor occasion has cleared the Actual Housewives franchise boss of “unsubstantiated” allegations of cocaine use, alcohol abuse, and sexual harassment, attorneys for Leah McSweeney and Brandi Glanville say it’s all a sham.
“That is excellent timing,” McSweeney’s lawyer Gary Adelman advised Deadline Thursday after Bravo put out a press release calling their Cohen probe “accomplished” and performed. “One line to allow them to repeat it to all of the advertisers on the Up Fronts.”
“How do you could have an investigation with out talking with to anybody?” McSweeney’s essential lawyer added, declaring that their shopper was by no means interviewed by the surface investigation regulation agency. “Our opinion is that nobody goes to imagine this was an actual investigation.”
“I’m trying ahead to reviewing the main points of report from the ‘unbiased’ investigation,” Glanville’s legal professional Bryan Freedman declared. “Since there was no discovering of wrongdoing, there, in fact, could be no want to cover or in any other case bury the findings.”
“NBC didn’t communicate with the complaining witnesses,” Freedman mentioned additionally of his shopper. “How is that an investigation?” Writing to NBCU and Warner Bros Discovery brass on February 22, Glanville claimed she was sexual harassed by a video from Watch What Occurs Dwell! host Cohen in 2022 telling Glanville that he, an brazenly homosexual man, needed her to look at him have intercourse with “one other Bravo star that night time” and extra. Later that day Cohen mentioned the video with he and Kate Chastain was meant as a “joke” however nonetheless “completely inappropriate and I apologize.”
Because the highlight more and more turned on the underbelly of the Actual Housewives sequence and unscripted TV, McSweeney sued Cohen, Bravo, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros Discovery, manufacturing firm Shed Media and numerous producers on March 7. In her jury trial searching for grievance in federal courtroom within the Empire State, the Actual Housewives of New York Metropolis star accused Cohen off utilizing “cocaine along with his staff to additional promote a office tradition that thrives off drug and alcohol abuse, which results in a failure to accommodate staff who’re disabled and making an attempt to stay substance free.”
McSweeney took to social media the identical day to additional pull again the veil and state: “Your favourite Bravo reveals are run by individuals who create a harmful work surroundings, encourage substance abuse to artificially create drama and cynically prey on the vulnerabilities of their staff.”
Cohen’s personal attorneys at Gibson Dunn threatened to go after McSweeney herself if she didn’t “instantly retract and withdraw” the allegations. She didn’t and so they haven’t made a authorized transfer of their very own.
With the Bravo assertion of that probe exonerating Cohen, McSweeney’s legal professional Adelman scoffed and added: “We look ahead to reviewing all the interviews, proof and remaining experiences of the investigation that NBCU performed, once we obtain them through the Discovery section of the lawsuit.”
Whereas sources at NBCU say the surface investigators did attempt to speak to McSweeney and Glanville through their attorneys, Bravo had no touch upon if that they had reached out to the 2 ladies or their attorneys. The NBCU unit additionally wouldn’t launch a duplicate of the report into Cohen’s habits, citing legal professional/shopper privilege.
If NBCU do ship a remark we are going to replace this put up.
With What Occurs Dwell picked up till the tip of 2025 and a boatload of the profitable Actual Housewives reveals renewed at present, Cohen could appear as safe as anybody will be in Hollywood. And maybe he’s going into the Might 13th NBCU up entrance, however, regardless of the corporate proclaiming any look into claims of his misbehavior all dealt with, that is nowhere close to over.
