“I know him, like, off camera. I know him privately. We travel collectively. We traveled together, like, before he had kids,? Ripa spoke on a recent episode of her podcast ‘Let’s Discuss Off Digicam’. “I never saw a drug near him. It’s probably the most… I’m really offended by it. I’m so outraged by this.”
Kelly Ripa is speaking out about accusations made against a longtime friend, Andrew Cohen.
In a bombastic action driven by Real Housewives of New York alum Leah McSweeneythe former reality star accused Cohen of using cocaine with Bravo stars and claimed the Bravo boss created “toxicity” in the office and “played favorites” among those who partied with him.
The current daytime talk show host spoke out about the allegations in her new episode Wednesday. Let’s discuss it off camera podcast, next Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Kyle Richards.
“I know him, like, off camera. I know him privately. We travel collectively. We traveled together, like, before he had kids,? Ripa mentioned. “I never saw a drug near him. It’s probably the most… I’m really offended by it. I’m so outraged by this.”
Richards, who has publicly expressed her support for Cohen, chimed in, noting that she has “only seen him be skilled” and has “really never seen medicine out there — or anything like that.”
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“It made me outraged and very unhappy because I feel like this is the time we live in right now,” she added. “It is completely harmful to make accusations like this. It’s not like it was. Appropriate? So that really made me unhappy.”
McSweeney also claimed in her suit that she was “pressured” into drinking alcohol, despite telling producers that she was working to maintain her sobriety during the three seasons she filmed.
She also alleged that producers retaliated against her when she had to remain sober and deliberately did not provide cheap lodging that could help her in her efforts to remain sober and be able to perform.
A representative for Cohen responded to the swimsuit in a press release to TMZcalling the claims “completely false.”
His authorized team then sent a letter to McSweeney that said: “(We) demand that you immediately stand down and retract all allegations regarding Mr. Cohen’s alleged ‘cocaine use’.” taking her to court.
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Cohen’s authorized crew continued: “To be clear: these allegations are categorically false. Cohen never used cocaine with any cast member at any time. Real Housewives present or with another Bravo worker. The absence of any cheap basis for making such allegations is confirmed by his own defense.”
“Reality is important. Litigation cannot be used to create false information. And it cannot be used as a vehicle to spread false and malicious lies in support of extortion,” concluded the Bravo executive’s team. “We demand that you issue an instant public retraction and apologize to Mr. Cohen. Day after day, if you fail to act, you will only increase the harm suffered by Mr. Cohen.”
See all the Housewives who spoke out in support of Cohen in the gallery below.
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