Andy Cohen says his alleged sexual harassment of a “Real Housewives” star was a “joke”

A one-time prized Bravo Housewives star, Brandi Glanville of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is accusing Andy Cohen — a Bravo exec and host of the network’s marquee program, Watch What Happens — of sexual harassment.

Cohen, who is openly gay, responded to the charge by saying the video message that Glanville cited as proof of harassment was intended as a joke. The Housewives series is known for being sexually charged.

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Andy Cohen uses skills he learned wrangling “Housewives” to parent his kids

“People want to be heard, and that’s with little kids, and that’s with stars of reality shows.”

Glanville, 51, appeared on several seasons of RHOBH and in two Ultimate Girls Trip spin-off shows.

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She made the allegations against Cohen in a letter sent by her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, to Bravo’s parent company NBCUniversal, Shed Media, and Shed’s parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Her rambling accusation, obtained by Variety, details Glanville’s claims that an “inebriated” Cohen sent her an inappropriate video message in 2022 stating “his intention to sleep with another Bravo star that night while thinking of her and invited her to watch via Facetime.”

Glanville felt both “trapped” and “disgusted” by Cohen’s “extraordinary abuse of power,” the letter states.

Why Glanville chose to publicize the incident two years after the fact was left unstated.

Just hours later, Cohen responded on social.

Referring to a cast member from Bravo’s Below Decks reality show, Cohen explains, “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 adds, “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

Soon enough, Glanville’s legal team responded to Cohen’s statement in a letter shared with The Daily Beast.

“Why is Andy Cohen getting a pass?” Glanville’s reps asked. “Any other supervisor at Comcast who did that would be fired on the spot, especially if the excuse was that this was a joke.”

“If it was such a known joke, then why did he apologize?” her representatives continued. “Because he knows he is in a position of power to control where and how much she works, so he can do what he wants and behave in a fashion that is abusive and harassing.”

Comparing Cohen to former NBC news anchor Matt Lauer, who was fired in 2017 for sexual harassment after it was discovered his desk was equipped with a button he would use to lock his potential victims in his office, the statement added, “Has NBC learned nothing from the cover-up at NBC News?”

Sexual situations permeate the Housewives franchises, and cast members are encouraged to hook up, plump up, and otherwise flaunt their aging, cinched-up bodies. Off-screen drama — sexual and otherwise — has become de rigueur for the reality show juggernaut and the cast members in its orbit since the show’s first franchise, Real Housewives of Orange County, debuted in 2006.

The comparison ranks with any number of Housewives storylines plotting a personal trainer or pool boy’s attraction to their aging castmates. It’s not reality television. It’s fiction.