Anderson Cooper is being coy about whether or not he’ll be drinking this year during “New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.” The duo appeared on Thursday night’s episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to talk about the special and spill about their friendship.
When asked by Colbert if the duo will be partaking this year, Cooper said, “I think you’re going to have to tune in and see.”
Even though it’s unclear if the friends will be drinking on CNN, they were free to drink on CBS. Colbert poured both Cooper and Cohen shots of tequila but refused to take one himself. Following his appendectomy, the late night host said he was on “an absolutely extraordinary antibiotics right now.”
Last year, CNN head Chris Licht announced that on-air personnel would no longer be allowed to drink during the network’s programming, the idea being that on-camera drinking damaged the credibility of reporters in the eyes of viewers. Even though Cohen and Cooper were exempt from this rule, they elected not to drink during last year’s broadcast in solidarity. During the show, both took mystery shots of non-alcoholic beverages ranging from pickle juice to buttermilk.
Even though last year’s New Year’s Eve broadcast was dry, that didn’t stop Cohen from asking “inappropriate questions,” according to Cooper.
“We had on Nick Cannon, and I think he suggested that Nick get a vasectomy,” Cooper recalled.
“I mean, I say what everyone else is thinking,” Cohen said.
This year, Cohen has been outspoken about wanting to drink once again on the air. During BravoCon, the “Watch What Happens Live” host told E! News, “I haven’t heard anything yet, but come on, they need to let us drink.” Cohen also said, “Give the daddies some juice” in the same interview, a line Colbert and Cooper repeatedly laughed about.
CNN has been quiet about whether or not drinking will be allowed during 2023’s New Year’s Eve broadcast. But there is a chance that Cohen’s dreams may come true. Chris Licht, who first announced the publicly unpopular ban, was fired from the network in June following a widely criticized Trump town hall. He has since been replace by a four-person interim leadership team composed of head of talent Amy Entelis, head of newsgathering Virginia Moseley, head of programming Eric Sherling and head of commercial David Leavy.
