Brandi Glanville and Andy Cohen Getty Images (2)
Brandi Glanville’s lawyers are not pleased with Andy Cohen’s “fake apology” after their client accused Cohen earlier this month of sexual harassment.
“Any boss who is clearly inebriated encouraging their employee by Facetime video to watch their boss have sex with another employee constitutes sexual harassment, plain and simple, under any definition even one concocted by NBC,” Glanville’s legal team, made up of Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, told Us Weekly in a statement on Friday, February 23, referring to Cohen’s alleged misconduct.
The statement continued: “Why is Andy Cohen getting a pass? Any other supervisor at Comcast/NBC who engaged in this behavior would be fired immediately on the spot. It is no excuse to say that this was a joke.”
While Hollywood may appear to be all glitz and glam on the surface, the industry has seen its fair share of scandals through the years. The New York Times and the New Yorker first published investigative pieces in 2017 that accused disgruntled movie producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment. Soon after, Weinstein stood trial and was […]
Glanville, 51, recently accused Cohen, 55, of being “inebriated” and sending her an inappropriate video in 2022, according to a lengthy letter her attorneys sent NBCUniversal, Shed Media and Shed’s parent company Warner Bros, according to Variety.
Glanville alleged that Cohen told her in the message that he had the “intention to sleep with another Bravo star that night while thinking of her” and claimed he “invited her to watch via Facetime.”
The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star stated that she felt “trapped” and “disgusted” by Cohen’s alleged call, especially since he was her “boss” at the time.
Cohen responded to the allegations via social media on Thursday, February 22, denying that it was anything more than a prank.
Brandi Glanville Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Rock of Ages Hollywood
“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 via X. “That said, it was totally inappropriate and I apologize.”
Glanville’s legal team, however, made it clear on Friday that Cohen’s apology wasn’t good enough and they called for his job at NBCUniversal’s Bravo network.
“NBC has mistakenly given Andy too much power across their network,” Glanville’s lawyers told Us in the statement. “He is a man hosting reunions across several cities in the franchise, producing and starring in his own show to promote these vehicles, hosting a juggernaut conference monetizing the ‘bravosphere’ on the backs of women and is the capo running this reality machine. NBC has clearly decided that he is too big to fail.”
The legal group argued that “NBC has learned nothing from the cover-up at NBC NEWS,” comparing Cohen’s actions to that of disgraced journalist Matt Lauer. (Lauer, 66, was fired from NBC’s Today show in November 2017 after being accused of sexual misconduct and assault. Lauer denied the claims, but NBC faced backlash over the allegations, as it was later learned the network hid the reports for two years.)
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“Just like Matt Lauer, Andy Cohen is now part of the cover up,” Glanville’s team alleged on Friday. “NBC continues to protect those in power. Brian Roberts, it’s time to step in like you did with Andy Lack and Jeff Shell and stop the cover up and do the right thing. Your legacy and decency demands it.”
Glanville’s allegations about Cohen came nearly one month after Glanville was sued by Caroline Manzo for allegedly kissing Manzo, 62, without her consent during the filming of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco in January 2023. (The season has yet to air in the wake of the allegations.)
Manzo claimed in court documents obtained by Us last month, that Bravo would regularly push the TV stars to drink alcohol so they would “become severely intoxicated, and then direct, encourage and/or allow them to sexually harass other cast members because that is for good ratings.”
Manzo alleged that Glanville did not attend the mandatory sexual harassment class for the cast and claimed that there were no repercussions for it.
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“Glanville proceeded to kiss Manzo with a closed mouth. Glanville then kissed Manzo again. Manzo was very uncomfortable,” the docs claimed. “Glanville then proceeded to mount Manzo on the couch holding Manzo down with her body, forcibly squeezed Manzo’s cheeks together and thrust her tongue in Manzo’s mouth, while humping her.”
Glanville denied her involvement in the alleged incident via a statement from her attorneys.
“Sadly, Brandi had to wake up to yet another lawsuit that includes defamatory, false accusations about her,” the statement to Us read in January. “While filming, Brandi followed what the producers asked of her, and there was no sexual assault. She is innocent of these absurd accusations that have weighed on her mental and physical health for far too long without a word of support from Peacock, Shed or Bravo.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Cohen and Bravo for comment.