Brandi Glanville is opening up about what she claims was an “abusive” and “manipulative” decade-long relationship with former boss Andy Cohen.
After accusing Andy, 56, of sexual harassment in February 2024, the 52-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum admitted to being in a dire financial situation as she spoke of the sexual assault claims Caroline Manzo, 63, made against her, detailed Andy’s reaction to the allegations, and shared more details about their past communication with one another.
“I was involved in a very abusive, manipulative relationship with Andy Cohen,” Brandi told The Post on February 19.
As fans have surely heard, Brandi was sent a video message from Andy and Kate Chastain, 42, in June 2022 in which Andy allegedly informed her that he and Kate were “f**king tonight” and “going to talk about [her] the whole time.”
“If you’re around in like 90 minutes, two hours, do you want to watch us on FaceTime?” he supposedly asked.
At the time, Brandi showed the clip to Tamra Judge, 57, who was with her at a New York City studio.
“Wow. He really likes you. He doesn’t send videos like that to me!” Tamra reportedly replied.
“I do remember her mentioning it,” Tamra confirmed to The Post. “We both thought it was funny … I’ve had a close friendship with him for 17 years, and he’s been nothing but kind to me.”
While Brandi felt special in the moment, she enlisted attorneys Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, who were working alongside Bethenny Frankel, 54, on her “Reality Reckoning,” months later, and they, in turn, labeled the video “an extraordinary abuse of power.”
They also demanded Andy be fired and warned of an impending lawsuit.
Meanwhile, in a statement shared on X, Andy defended the clip.
“The video …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.”
According to the report, Brandi responded to the video by saying she’d “get [her] vibrator” and claiming she had a “magic p***y.” However, now that she’s had time to think about the contents of the video and the nature of her relationship with Andy, she feels different.
“What people need to understand is that it wasn’t a friend sending me the video,” she explained. “If a friend sent me that video, who wasn’t my boss, and didn’t have power over me, I probably would have reacted like, ‘No big deal.’”
Looking back at the many years she was in contact with Andy, Brandi said she “wanted to keep that relationship alive” in hopes of returning to RHOBH, where she was making nearly $500,000 per season before being released from her contract.
“I was going to buy a house,” she said. “I was just excited to do something like that without [ex-husband Eddie Cibrian]. And then I got fired.”
While Brandi did return in guest spots, making just $5,000, the limited role made her feel “discounted.”
Although Brandi was never brought back to RHOBH, she was hired to appear on Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, where she was paid a reported $200,000.
“It felt like [Cohen] was throwing me a bone because he’d promised to bring me back to the ‘Housewives’,” she said. “Getting that money gave me a little relief for the next couple of years [and] I felt kind of important to him again.”
After first filming season two of RHUGT, Brandi received good feedback from network executives.
“A huge congrats… on a fantastic season… which really ups the ante in every way!” they told her.
Feeling that she “must have impressed someone,” Brandi went into season four hoping to recreate the same magic in Morocco.
“I wanted to do [on the second] what we did on the first one: get drunk and high and make out,” she revealed. “I wanted to leave them with, ‘She did so good.’”
But this time around, HR was involved and sending conflicting messages.
“They’re sitting there telling us we can’t talk about anyone’s age, we can’t call anyone fat. I’m like, ‘I’m sorry — how are we going to make ‘Housewives?’” she wondered. “Producers are saying ‘Bring the party,’ to me, specifically — because they knew that I would do something,”
According to Brandi, producers told her of Caroline, “‘Make sure she participates. We want her to have fun.’”
“I got her doing shots – she doesn’t drink,” Brandi recalled as she alleged that the cast was drunk and high on the night she was accused of sexually assaulting her co-star.
“[The producers were] like ‘bring the party,’’” Brandi shared. “That’s the reason I gave [Caroline] a lap dance.”
Once Brandi returned to Los Angeles from Morocco, rumors regarding what went down between her and Caroline began to swirl — and she received a text from Andy.
“Hang in there and don’t lose your mind,” he told her in a series of messages. “Say nothing now … There’s no gain in it. This thing is airing so long from now … Just stay off social media and clear your head for right now. Take a breath and let the plates settle for a bit.”
Then, once the story broke and Brandi was accused of behaving inappropriately, she texted Andy, “Well, I’m canceled.”
“You’re not canceled,” he assured her.
“Andy would call me and say, ‘Trust me, [Manzo’s] not going to serve Bravo a lawsuit,” Brandi noted. “He was like, ‘Trust me. I just saw her. We were talking. She’s not going to do anything.’ That’s his mindset – he thinks he’s so powerful that he has the control that Caroline’s not going to file a lawsuit.”
Amid the legal drama, Brandi, who was not named as a defendant in Caroline’s case, began seeing a therapist and discussing the relationship she had with Andy.
“[I started] talking to a therapist and telling them about the relationship – the non-relationship – that I had with this man, over a decade, was really, really abusive,” she explained.
Now, after being dropped by her lawyers at the end of last year, Brandi fears she’ll soon go broke.
“I joke with my kids that we have four months left until we’re homeless, but that’s sort of true, and it scares me, and it stresses me the f**k out,” she admitted. “I’m not ever going to be homeless, because I have friends. But I haven’t had income for two years. I just paid my taxes with my credit card. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”