INSIDE ANDY COHEN’S REALITY

In the sweeping reality-TV universe that Bravo has built, there may be no person more famous than Andy Cohen.

The executive producer, known for developing “The Real Housewives” from a short tape into an entertainment juggernaut, has carved out an unusually influential role in his two decades with the network. He is at once a senior employee, a confidant to Bravo’s many stars (he’s known as a “Housewives Whisperer”) and an on-screen talent in his own right.

Now, Cohen has found himself embroiled in several Bravo controversies. In one lawsuit filed by a network star, Cohen was accused of failing to confront “racially offensive behavior.” In a second lawsuit, he is accused by another star of doing drugs with unnamed “Real Housewives” cast members. The first lawsuit was withdrawn from federal court in 2022, but the matter remains pending in private arbitration, according to a person familiar with the matter. The second, filed in February, is ongoing. Bravo and NBCUniversal are facing several other lawsuits from former employees who say the network tolerated sexual and racial harassment.

Cohen, through representatives, has staunchly denied all accusations, and his attorney has demanded a public retraction of the drug-use claims. Through NBC representatives, Cohen declined to comment for this article. Most people contacted for this story also declined to speak.

That said, Cohen certainly isn’t hiding. He’s on TV five nights a week and hosts a daily SiriusXM show. He’s about to mark the 15th anniversary of his late-night talk show “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen”—or “WWHL,” as fans call it. And he’s starting to promote BravoCon, the network’s fan convention, which will take place in 2025.

All of this comes amid a wider debate playing out across the reality genre. Participants and series regulars are calling for conditions like a base minimum salary, better mental-health care and higher residual pay. Some are even trying to organize a reality-star union. Their demands raise a philosophical question: Can reality TV be kinder without losing its edge?

From intern to executive

When Cohen, 55, was coming up in broadcast news, reality TV as we know it now was nascent. “The Real World” (1992) and “Big Brother” (2000) would mark the beginning of a genre known for high-stakes unscripted antics.

In 1989, while he was completing a broadcast journalism degree at Boston University, Cohen landed an internship at “CBS This Morning.” He returned after graduation as a news clerk and rose through the ranks to senior news producer.

“He was such an eager bunny of energy and smarts,” said Barry Diller, the businessman and media mogul who hired Cohen in 2000 to work at arts-and-culture channel Trio.

Four years later, Cohen joined Bravo as an executive overseeing original programming and development. His early successes include “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “Project Runway.”

The network struck gold in 2006 with “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” Billed as an unscripted “Desperate Housewives,” it followed the lavish lives of five women and their families residing in a gated California community. Its success led to offshoots in cities including Atlanta, New York City, Potomac and, most recently, Dubai.

In the early years, Cohen would send dishy emails to then-president Lauren Zalaznick about behind-the-scenes drama on shows. Zalaznick asked Cohen to start an insiders’ blog on Bravo’s website, which then led to a live web show.

Diller said that when he plucked Cohen for Trio, he didn’t see him as on-screen talent. But watching “WWHL” showed him that the former news clerk was a star. “I thought, oh my God, just how obvious it was that he was a performer at heart,” Diller said.

Each night, Cohen angles to get “WWHL” guests to reveal fresh gossip. He’s known to bluntly ask Bravo stars about their plastic surgery, weight loss and sex lives. “WWHL” has also become a high-profile press stop, where celebrities participate in games where they divulge personal details. Shaquille O’Neal hinted at the size of his penis using his sneaker, Jeff Bridges said he tried heroin and Whoopi Goldberg rolled a generous dried-oregano joint on air. Days before Covid lockdowns froze the nation in March 2020, Hillary Clinton took a drink from Cohen’s shot ski (a ski with glued-on shot glasses) while wearing one of her signature pantsuits. Diehards can buy their own shot skis from the Bravo store for $165.

“The surprise is that it still works as well as it does,” Zalaznick said of the show in a 2018 interview with the Television Academy, “and seems like it will forever.”

Cohen has gone on to host other programs too, including CNN’s New Year’s Eve special with Anderson Cooper. In 2022, while cameras were rolling, he drunkenly ranted about former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The next year he was back as the show’s co-host.

“Andy—and Bravo itself—caught or maybe even caused the wave of how viewers read ‘authenticity,’” Zalaznick said. “He is always Andy.”

‘If it happens in front of the camera, we’re using it’

Cohen has often said that he sees the “Housewives” franchise as the real-life version of his favorite soap opera, “All My Children.”

“My mantra at Bravo and since has been, ‘If it happens in front of the camera, we’re using it,’” Cohen told the Television Academy in 2015.

Last October, Vanity Fair published a report on Bravo’s work culture, filled with interviews from former Housewives who alleged that producers would pressure them to get drunk while filming. Particularly scathing were the claims made by Leah McSweeney, a former “The Real Housewives of New York City” cast member who, shortly before she was introduced on season 12, had resumed drinking after nine years of sobriety.

A Bravo spokesperson said in a statement that the network had created new guidelines for alcohol consumption and handling risky situations, and that it had increased mental-health support for cast members. The spokesperson said outside production partners are required to follow the network’s policies and that Bravo had increased oversight to ensure guidelines are followed.

In February, McSweeney filed a lawsuit against Cohen, Bravo, NBCUniversal and the producers of “Real Housewives” and a spinoff called “The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip.” In the lawsuit, McSweeney alleged that after she became sober again, producers created a hostile work environment that included feeling heavily pressured to drink while on “Ultimate Girls Trip.” She also claimed Cohen gave favorable treatment to cast members who allegedly used drugs with him.

“A number of claims that were made by Leah McSweeney were previously investigated and unsubstantiated,” a Bravo spokesperson said in a statement. After the lawsuit was filed, NBCUniversal said there is an investigation into new allegations raised in McSweeney’s lawsuit; it is ongoing. In a statement, Cohen’s lawyer, Orin Snyder, said the claims were not true. “Andy is confident these baseless claims will be defeated,” he wrote. Snyder had previously called in a March letter for McSweeney’s legal team to withdraw the drug use allegations.

The law firm representing production companies involved with the “Real Housewives” franchise did not respond to requests for comment about the recent lawsuits.

“We look forward to seeing the information contained in the Bravo investigation and what Bravo actually did to investigate,” Gary Adelman, an attorney for McSweeney, said in a statement.

McSweeney’s lawsuit came just days after another Housewife accused Cohen of making a sexually inappropriate comment but has not taken legal action; Cohen has publicly apologized, saying a joke he made was misconstrued. In 2017, comedian Kathy Griffin said in a Twitter video that Cohen had allegedly offered her cocaine before her appearances on “WWHL,” something Cohen strongly denied. (Cohen replaced Griffin as a co-host of CNN’s New Year’s Eve special after she was fired from the role in 2017.) A spokesperson for Griffin declined to comment.

Adelman said that while Cohen didn’t sign McSweeney’s contract and isn’t named in it, he was under the “impression” that Cohen oversees and controls everything at the franchise, including hirings and firings. Cohen left his executive role at the network in 2013 and is one of several producers on “Real Housewives.” He does not have any more say than the others, a source familiar with the situation said

Last May, on the “Las Culturistas” podcast, Cohen said that Housewives used to call him at all hours of the day with demands or complaints. “Listen, I produce a show about women with no boundaries,” Cohen said on the show. These days, he said, he mostly speaks to longtime Housewives and keeps more distance from newer ones.

He’s received many calls from people over the years asking not to use specific footage, he told the Television Academy in 2015. “Sorry, but you signed up for a show about your life, and we’re going to air everything,” he said.

Past and present employees of Cohen described him as a friendly, fast-paced and smart boss who maintained clear professional boundaries. Daryn Carp, Cohen’s assistant of more than a decade, ascribed much of the ire directed at Cohen to a misconception about his role at Bravo.

“I don’t think a lot of people know executives at networks,” she said. “I don’t think people know the head of production at Paramount+, you know?”

Cohen, meanwhile, is a bona fide celebrity. At BravoCon, he takes selfies with die-hard “Housewives” fans and speaks on panels. He knows which stars and story lines to poke and prod to feed fans, which he does on “WWHL,” as host of reunion specials, through his radio show and on social media. It all seems to be working: Ratings at the network surged last year, according to Nielsen, with viewership growth for almost every returning show. On average, Bravo viewers tuned in more days of the year than viewers of any other cable network.

The day Bravo announced that “WWHL” would be renewed to 2024, Cohen wrote in his 2023 memoir “The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up” that the new deal would mark 15 years of his show: “I wonder if that’ll be it?”

A source familiar with the situation said the network is expected to make an announcement about renewing Cohen’s show this month, timed near NBCUniversal Upfronts.

Write to Ashley Wong at [email protected] and Sara Ashley O’Brien at [email protected]

2024-05-04T11:01:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd