Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: Andy Cohen, Bravo, Entertainment
Marissa Dow
Behind every successful man is an even more successful woman, but behind every successful Housewife is Andy Cohen. The TV host and network executive has become synonymous with The Real Housewives and Bravo itself, acting as its de facto mascot/champion/puppet master depending on who you ask. Over the years, Andy has taken flack for allegedly playing favorites among his preferred talent who get more slack on the reunion stage than they probably deserve (looking at you, Kyle), and for generally being a man in women’s business (me, personally, I’m willing to make a rare exception).
Overall, the fandom, by and large, considers the host to be a staple of the Bravo universe that the reality television landscape simply wouldn’t be the same without. However, more recently, negative attention surrounding Andy Cohen has been more serious than disgruntled viewers at home. Andy and Bravo have been under legal fire from former talent, mostly revolving around the “Reality Reckoning” movement that *totally sane human being* and former RHONY star Bethenny Frankel began, to hold the network accountable for its alleged negligence. Other related claims against Andy regarding drug use and sexual harassment from Leah McSweeney and Brandi Glanville have also garnered attention, irrespective of their legal stamina or public acceptance. So when reports popped up over the weekend suggesting Andy Cohen was considering a hefty exit package from the network to walk away from the drama, fans had slight reason to be concerned. Is Andy Cohen actually leaving Bravo behind? Here’s everything we know.
Andy became the Vice President of Original Content at Bravo after the network purchased the now-defunct Trio network. Cohen later moved on to leading Development and Talent at Bravo until 2014. He now remains the history-making first openly gay host in late-night television due to his role on Watch What Happens Live, of which he is also an executive producer, in addition to EPing The Real Housewives and reunions across many Bravo series (like Below Deck). TLDR: Andy has been with the network for 20 years so he clearly possesses a great deal of influence there (although this would be a great time for crazy conspiracy theorists to please note Andy is not Bravo’s Wizard of Oz, silently manipulating every aspect of your favorite TV show, as he no longer in the network’s executive staff).
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The reports that surely caused many a sleepless night for the international female population claimed that due to diminishing ratings and legal woes, Andy was seriously considering a severance package to walk away from the network. This doesn’t really add up though, considering you can’t make lawsuits disappear just because you changed jobs (ask Donald Trump).
Hallelujah, Bravo has clapped back with a hard no. A spokesperson for my happy place said there was “absolutely no truth” to the departure rumors and even added the alleged source of the claims “obviously has no clue about the situation.” Okay, can we get that sassy lad on camera?