Leah McSweeney has alleged that Andy Cohen actively worked to blacklist and bully her legally.
In an amended lawsuit filed in New York on Tuesday, Leah McSweeney alleges that Andy Cohen retaliated against her after she initially filed legal claims by orchestrating public threats through his lawyers, launching disparaging media attacks, and attempting to blacklist her from the entertainment industry.
These actions, Leah claims, were calculated to intimidate her and other Bravo stars from speaking out against him.
McSweeney, known for her roles in two seasons of RHONY from 2020 to 2021 on Bravo and in Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip on Peacock in 2023, originally asserted in her February lawsuit that Cohen, along with production company Shed Media and the networks, exploited her alcohol dependency for dramatic effect and ratings.
The lawsuit alleges that producers historically capitalized on cast members’ instability and volatility for ratings success and aimed to replicate this with Leah, leveraging her history of alcoholism and mental health challenges.
Additionally, Leah’s suit contends that Andy engaged in drug use with some Housewives stars and granted them preferential treatment, claims he vehemently denies.
Bravo maintains that an independent investigation cleared Cohen of any wrongdoing.
Andy Cohen, who serves as an executive producer on both shows and all other Real Housewives series, responded uniquely to the initial lawsuit filing.
In addition to denying the claims, Cohen’s lawyer reportedly penned a letter a few days later — a move that, according to McSweeney’s amended lawsuit, was strategically leaked to the press, including Page Six, to maximize its impact. The letter asserted that Leah’s allegations constituted libel against Andy and demanded she retract them, threatening legal action for damages if she did not comply.
However, as Leah’s suit points out, the law explicitly protects individuals’ rights to make any claims they wish in court filings, whether true, false, or malicious, without the risk of being sued for libel.
The ability to substantiate those claims in court remains a separate matter altogether.
In her amended lawsuit, Leah McSweeney alleges that Cohen’s legal team employed their strategy based on the assumption that not everyone is aware of the legal protections afforded to statements made in court filings.
They allegedly hoped to intimidate McSweeney and her fellow Housewives colleagues into silence or backing off by threatening potential libel suits for speaking up.
In other words, the lawsuit alleges that Andy Cohen’s aggressive letter was designed to “intimidate Ms. McSweeney from continuing to pursue” her lawsuit and to “maliciously” dissuade other Housewives stars and individuals associated with Andy from speaking out against similar behavior, as stated in the court documents.
Meanwhile, according to the lawsuit, Cohen aimed to damage McSweeney’s reputation in the entertainment industry, potentially impacting her future job opportunities. Cohen, Bravo, and Shed have moved to dismiss McSweeney’s initial lawsuit.