Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen has been renewed at Bravo.
The late night talk show is returning following a handful of allegations that were made against host Cohen by two former stars of the Real Housewives franchise.
In a statement, NBC confirmed that an investigation into Cohen’s conduct had been completed prior to the renewal of WWHL.
‘The outside investigation into the recent allegations made by Brandi Glanville and Leah McSweeney against Andy Cohen has now been completed, and the claims were found to be unsubstantiated,’ the network said.
Watch What Happens Live joins a slew of other programs that have been renewed at the network, including The Valley, Summer House, Married to Medicine, Southern Charm, Southern Hospitality, and Below Deck.
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen has been renewed at Bravo and the host has been cleared by the network of misconduct following an official investigation
NBC said that an ‘outside investigation’ into Cohen had been completed and that claims made against him were ‘unsubstantiated’
The Real Housewives of Potomac, Atlanta, New York City, Miami, Orange County, and Beverly Hills have all been renewed.
Bravo will also launch two brand new reality shows: Making It in Manhattan, about a young group of friends in New York, and On Safari, which follows tour guides in South Africa as they create luxury experiences for thrill-seeking clients.
In February, Glanville accused Bravo bigwig Cohen of sexual harassment in an explosive legal letter that was sent by her attorneys to NBC, Shed Media and Warner Bros.
Glanville, 51, claimed that an ‘obviously inebriated’ Cohen sent her a video of himself saying that he wanted to have sex with another Bravo star and invited her to watch the act over FaceTime in 2022.
‘In a video sent by Mr. Cohen to Ms. Glanville in 2022, Mr. Cohen—appearing obviously inebriated—boasted of his intention to sleep with another Bravo star that night while thinking of her and invited her to watch via Facetime,’ her attorney Bryan Freedman wrote.
In February, Brandi Glanville accused Bravo bigwig Cohen of sexual harassment in an explosive legal letter that was sent by her attorneys to NBC, Shed Media and Warner Bros
Glanville said that she was sent an inappropriate video from Cohen and another Bravo star, who was later revealed to be Kate Chastain
The identity of the ‘Bravo star’ was not disclosed in the letter but Cohen later revealed it to be Below Deck alum Kate Chastain as he responded to Glanville’s accusations on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday.
Cohen said that he — an openly gay man — and Chastain were ‘joking’ about hooking up but acknowledged it was ‘inappropriate.’
‘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,’ the WWHL host wrote.
In the legal letter, Freedman notes that Cohen was Glanville’s superior at the time the alleged video was sent as she was working on the second season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, a Real Housewives spin-off for NBC’s streaming service Peacock.
She’d also worked closely with Cohen for over 10 years after landing a spot on the hit Bravo series Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills back in 2011.
Meanwhile, McSweeney filed the lawsuit against Andy and Bravo and alleged cocaine use is rampant at the the network, with the producer and on-air personality both using the illegal drug and providing it to employees.
The Bravo producer ‘engages in cocaine use with Housewives that he employs,’ according to the suit filed in New York’s Southern District by McSweeney.
Former Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney also filed a lawsuit against Cohen and Bravo, and accused Cohen of using cocaine in a legal letter
A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com that ‘the claims against Andy are completely false’
She 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.
Andy ‘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 that ‘the claims against Andy are completely false.’
Leah, 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 that Bravo ‘thrives off drug and alcohol use,’ without naming any further parties past Cohen.
The designer said in court docs 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.
She 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.’
In her suit – which is for unspecified damages – named Cohen, Bravo, Shed Media and Shed’s parent company Warner Media.
Andy responded by threatening McSweeney with legal action, calling her accusations ‘categorically false.’
A letter from his attorneys obtained by TMZ asked Leah to ‘retract’ the allegations. ‘[We] demand that you immediately retract and withdraw all allegations relating to Mr. Cohen’s purported “cocaine use.”‘
‘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 letter continued.
Andy’s attorneys claimed that the lawsuit was ‘just to get headlines and a quick payday.’
McSweeney said in legal docs that Bravo ‘thrives off drug and alcohol use,’ without naming any further parties past Cohen
Andy’s attorneys claimed that the lawsuit was ‘just to get headlines and a quick payday’
The letter concluded with his lawyers stating that the ‘truth matters’ and once again asked Leah to ‘retract’ the lawsuit and ‘apologize to Mr. Cohen. Every day you fail to do so only increases the damages suffered by Mr. Cohen.’
However, Leah’s lawyer, Gary Adelman, told Us Weekly that ‘there are more lawsuits coming and there are more people who are going to speak out.’
‘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. And we believe the law thinks this is wrong.’
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter this week, Cohen was asked about McSweeney’s lawsuit.
He said that he was advised by his lawyers not to respond to certain allegations. However, he emphasized that no one is compelled to consume alcohol during production.
‘What I’ll say about the alcohol is that we have so many sober people and people who have gotten sober on the show, like Countess Luann [de Lesseps],’ he explained.
‘We have people who’ve never had a drink during the entire run of the show. Jill Zarin. Kandi Burris. Heather Dubrow will just have an occasional glass of champagne. So sure, there are people who drink. There are many people who never drink.
‘We don’t force anyone to do anything. But no one is secretly hiding liquor bottles on set. That’s ridiculous. We’ve been very supportive of people’s sobriety.’