Andy Cohen’s lawyers are claiming that former The Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney’s bombshell lawsuit against him is “littered with false, offensive, and defamatory statements.”
Page Six obtained a letter on Thursday, March 7, which was sent from Cohen’s lawyer to McSweeney’s legal team, asking for a retraction regarding certain claims about the Bravo boss.
“We demand that you immediately retract and withdraw all allegations relating to Mr. Cohen’s purported ‘cocaine use,’” Cohen’s lawyer, Orin Snyder of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, wrote, noting that McSweeney’s claims were “categorically false.”
In her suit, filed on February 27, McSweeney, 41, alleged, in part, that Cohen, 55, “engaged in cocaine use” with various members of The Real Housewives franchise and other Bravo stars. Cohen initially responded in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on February 28, calling the claims “completely false.” Thursday’s letter obtained by Page Six doubled down on the denial.
“Mr. Cohen never used cocaine with any cast member on any ‘Real Housewives’ show or with any other Bravo employee,” Cohen’s lawyer wrote, adding that “an allegation of drug use in the workplace is a serious charge.”
The attorney also addressed McSweeney’s legal team head-on.
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“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,” the letter read. “It will not. Instead, this conduct only subjects you and your client to independent and substantial legal exposure.”
The note continued to state that McSweeney’s “reason for inventing the false allegations in the first place” was “to create a media frenzy and pressure in an attempt to force a settlement.”
McSweeney’s attorney responded to Cohen’s letter in a statement obtained by Us Weekly.
“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,” the statement read. “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.”
The statement concluded: “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’s lawsuit also named Bravo, NBC/Universal, production house Shed Media U, and producers John Paparazzo, Lisa Shannon and Darren Ward. Aside from the drug allegations against Cohen, McSweeney claimed that the network executives “create a dangerous work environment, encourage substance abuse.”
She further alleged that the network exploited her alcoholism, noting that she felt “pressured” to drink while on the show. (McSweeney was a RHONY cast member for two seasons from 2020 to 2021. She returned for The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip season 3 in 2023.)
“Today I am taking back my reality. The reckless and diabolical way in which the people at the top drool over the mishaps and misfortunes of the women including myself are disturbing,” McSweeney wrote via Instagram when news of her lawsuit went public. “It’s a workplace culture where toxicity, alcoholism and pain are not only expected but encouraged and facilitated. That is something I most definitely did not sign up for nor would I ever endorse.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Cohen, Bravo and McSweeney for comment.
