A bombshell new lawsuit paints a damning picture of the behind-the-scene culture at reality TV giant Bravo as a dysfunctional club that “thrives off” hard drugs, encourages alcohol abuse and turns a blind eye to sexually predatory behavior.
Court documents filed on Tuesday by one of its former stars, Leah McSweeney, even claim that it’s an open secret that the network’s figurehead, Andy Cohen, snorts cocaine with a coterie of his favorite “Real Housewives” stars, and doles out special professional favors to his employees-cum-personal-party-pals.
Meanwhile, the papers claim that the network is aware that a different senior producer “routinely sends unsolicited pictures of [their] genitalia to lower-level… production employees,” but the papers claim that higher-ups have done nothing to stop it.
The shock claims are part of a lawsuit in which McSweeney, 41, claims that the network preyed on her alcohol problem, either by intentionally exacerbating it or by preventing her from seeking help with it, in a cynical attempt to turn her suffering into ratings.
The fashion designer, who appeared on two seasons of flagship show, “The Real Housewives of New York City,” and one season of spin-off “Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip,” claims that the network breached her rights under employment law by failing to allow her to get proper care for her alcohol addiction, even though executives were aware of the problem.
Indeed, she claims producers “pressured her” to drink, even though they knew she was trying to stop.
She’s seeking unspecified damages.
The news comes days after fellow “Real Housewives” star Brandi Glanville claimed in a legal letter that an “obviously inebriated” Cohen sexually harassed her by telling her that he wanted to “sleep with another Bravo star” while “thinking” of Glanville and invited her to watch over FaceTime.
(Cohen has claimed that the remark was meant “in jest” but conceded that it was “inappropriate.”)
While making a case that the network thrives on a culture that “thrives off drug and alcohol use,” McSweeney’s lawsuit claims that Cohen, 55 — who is an executive producer of “RHONY” and “RHUGT” and hosts Bravo’s late night show, “Watch What Happens Live” — “engages in cocaine use with Housewives that he employs” and that “Cohen’s proclivity for cocaine usage with his employees is well-known throughout the Real Housewives franchise.”
“In fact,” claim the papers filed in the Southern District of New York, “Cohen tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment and [makes them appear more agreeably in] edits [of their shows].”
It doesn’t name the “Housewives” cast members in question.
McSweeney’s powerhouse lawyers allege in the documents that, “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.”
Meanwhile, the papers claim that a producer employed by Shed Media, which makes “RHONY” and “RHUGT” as well as a number of other “Real Housewives” shows, “routinely sends unsolicited pictures of [their] genitalia to lower-level…production employees.”
It also alleges that even though Bravo and Shed “know or should know about [the producer’s] sexual harassment, [they] continue to elevate [the producer] to positions of increased power.”
Those claims are part of McSweeney’s suit because her lawyers claim in the court documents that “by failing to take appropriate remedial action [Bravo and Shed] tacitly send the message to [the producer] and all other employees that they can engage in unlawful employment practices with impunity.”
Can’t get enough ‘Real Housewives?’
McSweeney, who appeared on “RHONY” from 2020 until 2021 and then “RHUGT” in 2023, is suing Cohen, Bravo, Shed Media — a production company that makes both shows — and Warner Media, which owns Shed.
In 2017, Cohen’s former pal and CNN New Year’s Eve co-host Kathy Griffin claimed that Cohen offered her cocaine before she appeared on “What’s What Happens Live” on two separate occasions. Cohen said at the time: “I am completely stunned by this story. It is 100% false and totally made up.”
Reps didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Page
