Andy Cohen Demands Retraction and Apology from Leah McSweeney for ‘Categorically False’ Allegations

By Emma Chance | TV | March 8, 2024 |

By Emma Chance | TV | March 8, 2024 |

Last week, former Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney filed a complaint against Bravo and Andy Cohen in which she claims Cohen fostered a toxic working environment at the network, where her alcoholism was maliciously preyed upon and her mental health struggles manipulated for ratings. She further claims Cohen parties with his favorite Housewives and abuses cocaine, alleging that lifestyle influences what happens on the shows he’s involved with.

“Cohen tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment and edits,” the lawsuit reads. “Cohen intentionally uses 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.”

She doubled down with a heartfelt Instagram post after the lawsuit was filed:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leah McSweeney (@leahmob)

Cohen’s attorneys have responded to these allegations with a letter sent to McSweeney and her legal team, claiming the lawsuit is “littered with false, offensive, and defamatory statements,” and demands the accusations of cocaine use be “immediately” retracted and withdrawn, otherwise Cohen “reserves the right to hold you and your client accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“To be clear: these allegations are categorically false. Mr. Cohen never used cocaine with any cast member on any Real Housewives show or with any other Bravo employee…The allegations were obviously made up by you and/or your client to achieve maximum tabloid clickbait value in the hopes of weaponizing these false allegations—along with other lies that permeate the complaint—as leverage to force an unjustified settlement. It will not. Instead, this conduct only subjects you and your client to independent and substantial legal exposure,” the letter reads.

They go on to accuse McSweeney and her team of using litigation to “create fake news” and demand the issuing of “an immediate public retraction” and apology to Cohen.

The response did not sway McSweeney’s attorneys, who issued their own response:

“That Andy Cohen had his counsel and PR agents write a threatening letter to give to the press is hardly surprising. Mr. Cohen is accustomed to using his power in the media to scare and intimidate people like Ms. McSweeney so that they will not speak out. Mr. Cohen’s attempt to discredit and intimidate Ms. McSweeney to deter her from engaging in legally protected activity in court is exactly the type of retaliation that this lawsuit was brought to address and only is further evidence for Ms. McSweeney. We do not intend to litigate this matter in the press, and if Mr. Cohen wants to address Ms. McSweeney’s claims, we suggest he do so in court, not in a letter for the press.”

McSweeney, presumably told to keep mum by her attorneys, responded once more with this Instagram story: