Andy Cohen apologized Thursday, just hours after former “Real Housewives” star Brandi Glanville reportedly threatened a lawsuit against her former Bravo boss and the network for sexual harassment.
The former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star sent a letter to NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. and Shed Media threatening the action via her legal team of Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman, according to media reports. It highlighted an alleged 2022 FaceTime call between Cohen, Glanville and her “The Traitors” costar, Kate Chastain.
“Mr. Cohen was Ms. Glanville’s boss at the time and exercised complete and total control over her career,” the letter read. “This was an extraordinary abuse of power that left Ms. Glanville feeling trapped and disgusted.”
The “Watch What Happens Live” host soon acknowledged the video in question in his apology.
“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,” Cohen wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “That said, it was totally inappropriate and I apologize.”
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.
— Andy Cohen (@Andy) February 23, 2024
Geragos and Freedman, who previously represented Bethenny Frankel, also wrote that this was “far from the first time Ms. Glanville has been used and abused by NBC, Bravo, Warner Bros. and Shed Media. Indeed, Ms. Glanville has long been taken advantage of by the institutions with which she is indelibly tied personally, professionally, financially and in the public mind. Her story — one of thousands we have heard in the course of our investigation into the practices of the reality television industry — is part and parcel of the Reality Reckoning.”
NBCUniversal declined to comment when reached by TheWrap.
Glanville’s letter came a month after former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Caroline Manzo sued producers for negligence, sexual harassment, sex/gender discrimination and sexual battery over an alleged incident that occurred while taping “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” in Morocco.
Manzo accused Glanville of forcibly kissing her on a couch before she later “forcibly fondled Manzo’s vagina and breasts” in a bathroom. However, Glanville is not named in that lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Glanville has long maintained her innocence despite the accusations preventing her from filming the “Traitors” Season 1 reunion.
“I’m f–king sick of this narrative. I was hired for a second season of ‘Girls Trip’ [because] they loved what I did on first season. I was told to bring the party just like before, and that’s exactly what I did and I was punished for it,” she wrote on X in March 2023.
“Can we please air this f–king show already? It’s so I can be vindicated. It’s been a year now! Please let me live and provide! This is insane,” Glanville added in January.
“Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” Season 5 is still expected to air sometime in 2024.
TMZ was first to report news of Glanville’s letter on Thursday.
