An attorney for former Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney has doubled down on the validity of her suit against Bravo boss Andy Cohen, while dismissing defenses made on behalf of Cohen by other personalities associated with the popular reality TV franchise.
Lawyer Gary Adelman, who is representing McSweeney in her suit claiming Bravo executives violated her employment rights under the Disabilities Act, told US in a statement Tuesday that ‘there are more lawsuits coming and there are more people who are going to speak out’ in regards to the situation.
Adelman pushed back on Bravo stars or alums who have defended Cohen and the network in regards to the suit, in which McSweeney said network officials preventing her to get help for her alcohol issues while knowing she was dealing with them, amid the boozy backdrop of the show.
‘It doesn’t matter what people say or think – that Andy’s a good guy, or that you should expect to drink, or that you should expect this behavior … what’s going to matter is what the law thinks of it,’ Adelman said. ‘And we believe the law thinks this is wrong.’
Dailymail.com has reached out to Cohen’s reps for comment on the latest statements made by McSweeney’s legal team. A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com last month in response to her suit that ‘the claims against Andy are completely false.’
An attorney for former Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney, 41, has doubled down on the validity of her suit against Bravo boss Andy Cohen, 55, while dismissing defenses made on behalf of Cohen by other personalities associated with the popular reality TV franchise.
A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com last month that ‘the claims against Andy are completely false.’ Pictured earlier this year filming Watch What Happens Live
The lawsuit, filed against Andy Cohen and Bravo February 27, alleged cocaine use is rampant at the the network, with the linchpin producer and on-air personality both using the illegal drug and providing it to employees.
The Bravo producer and personality, 55, ‘engages in cocaine use with Housewives that he employs,’ McSweeney said in the suit, which was filed in New York’s Southern District.
McSweeney said in court docs reviewed by Page Six that Cohen ‘tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment’ and strategic editing to make them look better.
Cohen ‘intentionally uses cocaine with his employees to further promote a workplace culture that thrives off drug and alcohol use, which leads to a failure to accommodate employees who are disabled and trying to stay substance free,’ McSweeney said in court docs.
A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com last month that ‘the claims against Andy are completely false.’
Cohen earlier this month responded to the lawsuit in a legal letter sent to McSweeney and her legal team, TMZ reported March 7, denying all claims made in her filing and demanding they ‘immediately retract and withdraw all allegations relating to Mr. Cohen’s purported “cocaine use.”‘
Cohen’s lawyers added, ‘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 absence of any reasonable basis to make such allegations is confirmed by your pleading itself.
‘The truth matters. Litigation cannot be used to create fake news. And it cannot be used as a vehicle to spread false and malicious lies, in furtherance of a shakedown. We demand that you issue an immediate public retraction and apologize to Mr. Cohen. Every day you fail to do so only increases the damages suffered by Mr. Cohen.’
Lawyer Gary Adelman, who is representing McSweeney in her suit claiming Bravo executives violated her employment rights under the Disabilities Act, told US in a statement Tuesday that ‘there are more lawsuits coming and there are more people who are going to speak out’ in regards to the situation
McSweeney, 41, appeared on two seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City in 2020-2021, and on a season of Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, which aired last year. Pictured in NYC in June of 2021
McSweeney, seen in an Instagram post, said in court docs that Bravo producers sought to sabotage her sobriety by both exacerbating it and stopping her from getting treatment for her problem
McSweeney, 41, appeared on two seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City in 2020-2021, and on a season of Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, which aired last year.
McSweeney said in the legal docs filed last month that Bravo ‘thrives off drug and alcohol use,’ without naming any further parties past Cohen.
McSweeney said in court docs reviewed by Page Six that she informed Bravo producers prior to her casting on the series, that she had been focused on staying sober, and had a 30-day streak of sobriety going into the show.
McSweeney told the court that producers failed to make a ‘reasonable accommodation’ for her addiction-related disability – but instead provided her ‘with unlimited, free-of charge alcoholic beverages,’ and ‘encouraged her to consume those alcoholic beverages.’
McSweeney’s legal team said that ‘this environment caused Ms. McSweeney to relapse into alcohol addiction shortly after joining RHONY season 12.’
McSweeney said in court docs that Bravo producers sought to sabotage her sobriety by both exacerbating it and stopping her from getting treatment for her problem.
McSweeney told the court that Bravo executives violated her employment rights under the Disabilities Act by preventing her to get help for her alcohol issues, knowing she was dealing with them.
McSweeney, who has a fashion label called Married To The Mob, said in the legal docs that sexual harassment was also rife in the company, claiming that a senior producer ‘routinely sends unsolicited pictures of [their] genitalia to lower-level … production employees,’ and that executives have ignored the issues.
McSweeney has a fashion label called Married To The Mob
Cohen ‘intentionally uses cocaine with his employees to further promote a workplace culture that thrives off drug and alcohol use, which leads to a failure to accommodate employees who are disabled and trying to stay substance free,’ McSweeney said in court docs
McSweeney said in legal docs that Bravo and Shed Media, a production company it works with on its shows, continued to promote the unnamed senior producer in question ‘to positions of increased power.’
In ‘failing to take appropriate remedial action’ amid the claims, McSweeney said in court docs, Bravo and Shed officials ‘tacitly’ signaled to both the senior producer and ‘all other employees that they can engage in unlawful employment practices with impunity.’
McSweeney in her suit, which is for unspecified damages, named Cohen, Bravo, Shed Media and Shed’s parent company Warner Media.
The latest claims come amid a series of lawsuits filed involving Cohen, who also is the host of the Bravo series Watch What Happens Live! and executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise.
Brandi Glanville, 51, claimed in an explosive legal letter earlier this month that Cohen had sexually harassed her by trying to make her watch him have sex with another Bravo star, who Cohen later revealed to be Kate Chastain of Below Deck fame, via a FaceTime video.
In a legal legal letter DailyMail.com obtained, Glanville said that in 2022, an ‘obviously inebriated’ Cohen sent her a clip in which he ‘invited her to watch via Facetime,’ Glanville’s attorney Bryan Freedman said.
Cohen, who is openly gay, earlier this month posted an apology via Twitter: ‘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.’
A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com that ‘the claims against Andy are completely false’
The latest claims come amid a series of lawsuits filed involving Cohen, who also is the host of the Bravo series Watch What Happens Live! and executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise. Pictured Friday in NYC
Glanville said that the apology meant nothing to her since it wasn’t addressed to her.
‘I have not received a personal apology from anyone,’ she said. ‘I saw an apology that Andy posted TO HIS FANS for his mistreatment of me and inappropriateness.’
Sources who saw the video in question told Dailymail.com on Tuesday that Glanville replied to Cohen’s video message in saying she would provide a sex toy for the referenced rendezvous.
Insiders said Cohen told Glanville in the 2022 clip, ‘Hey Brandi what’s up girl? We are just thinking about you. So yeah, me and Kate are gonna have some hot sex and wanted to know if you wanted to watch. You know a little ménage à trois. So FaceTime us back. Okay girl love you!’
Glanville sent a reply in which she said, ‘I will bring my hot dildo,’ according to eyewitnesses.
Glanville is also at the center of separate sexual harassment litigation involving fellow Bravo personality Caroline Manzo, 62.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star said that Bravo producers encouraged Glanville to sexually harass her amid the filming of the series The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco, TMZ reported January 26.
Manzo said in legal docs that Glanville – after being encouraged to drink to excess by producers – ‘forced her vagina against her back’ as she groped her in front of the cameras.
Brandi Glanville, 51, claimed in an explosive legal letter earlier this month that Cohen had sexually harassed her by trying to make her watch him have sex with another Bravo star, who Cohen later revealed to be Kate Chastain of Below Deck fame, via a FaceTime video
Cohen and McSweeney were pictured on a Watch What Happens Live! in 2021 with Sonja Morgan
Lawyers for the RHONJ personality said that Glanville ‘proceeded to mount Manzo on the couch holding Manzo down with her body, forcibly squeezed Manzo’s cheeks together and thrust her tongue in Manzo’s mouth, while humping her.’
Glanville’s rep told DailyMail.com that ‘there was no sexual assault’ and that the allegations raised by Manzo were ‘absurd.’
Cohen has past been the target of cocaine-related allegations, as his former friend Kathy Griffin said in 2017 clip on YouTube that Cohen had offered her cocaine on multiple occasions, prior to her appearing on his talk show.
‘Right before we went live, Andy Cohen privately asked me in an office in embassy row, which is the production company that does that s***show asked her if I wanted to do blow,’ Griffin said in an October 2017 clip on YouTube. ‘He was asking me to do cocaine with him.’