The Real Housewives franchise is currently embroiled in a few different legal woes.
One of the high-profile cases involving the hit Bravo franchise comes from Leah McSweeney, who filed a particularly pointed lawsuit highlighting Andy Cohen as someone with direct involvement in the situation.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, McSweeney filed a lawsuit against NBCUniversal, Bravo, and Cohen himself. The reality TV star claims that, “while aware of [McSweeney’s] issues with alcohol and fragile mental health, producers allegedly coerced and coaxed her into drinking alcohol while shooting two seasons of RHONY and one season of a spinoff show.”
The lawsuit reportedly alleges that “[Cohen] engaged in cocaine use with ‘Housewives’ and other ‘Bravolebrities’ that he employs.” It is also claimed that “‘Housewives’ with whom he uses cocaine with [get] more favorable treatment and edits.”
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, a rep for Cohen spoke to THR and denied McSweeney’s accusations. “The claims against Andy are completely false,” the rep said. Another unnamed source added, “It’s outrageous that anyone would make a claim that Andy does cocaine with any Housewives.”
McSweeney first appeared in seasons 12 and 13 of The Real Housewives of New York City — which aired respectively in 2020 and 2021. She then returned to the franchise in the All Stars-esque spinoff known as The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. McSweeney was a main cast member on RHUGT season 3, which took place in Thailand.
Generally speaking, McSweeney isn’t the first Real Housewives alum to file a lawsuit against Bravo and its executives alleging “mistreatment” from production. She is also not the first person to accuse Cohen of using drugs and favoring cast members who join him. However, most of these claims from Housewives stars against Bravo and Cohen haven’t gotten very far.
It is noteworthy that reality TV stars are now personally naming Cohen when filing a lawsuit related to the Housewives series, but only time will tell if this approach will work and if she has enough evidence to back up these accusations.