Andy Cohen Says He Will Not Apologize for Drinking During CNN's New Year's Eve Show
Andy Cohen won't be apologizing any time soon. The direct TV and radio personality is taking a stand against critics who have slammed him for having a bit too much to drink while hosting CNN's New Year's Eve show, alongside his close friend Anderson Cooper.
The Watch What Happens Life! The host called into Howard Stern's SiriusXM show on Tuesday and declared, "I will not be shamed for having fun on New Year's Eve. That's why I'm there. That's why they bring me there."
Cohen and Cooper downed shots and sipped on cocktails throughout the lengthy broadcast. The imbibing seemingly led Cohen to a controversial rant against New York City's outgoing mayor, Bill de Blasio.
However, as far as Cohen is concerned, the people upset about his behaviour on the show only pay attention to a small part of the complete picture.
"It's a four-and-a-half-hour show. The booze started kicking in around 11:30. So everyone's focusing on kind of the last 45 min or hour we were on the air," Cohen told Stern. "It kicked into high gear with 45 minutes left. We'd done 15 interviews before that point! And I won't be shamed for it."
"I had a blast. Anderson had a blast. We left, and we were like, 'That was fun! What a fun New Year's Eve,'" the host recalled. "There will be no apologies for drinking on New Year's Eve. None."
While Cohen is standing firm behind his performance on the live broadcast, he did admit on Monday to having regret about one of the things he said
On Monday's episode of SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live, the 53-year-old TV personality revealed he felt terrible about his on-air criticism of ABC's competing New Year's Eve show, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and its host, Ryan Secrest
"The only thing that I regret saying, the only thing is that I slammed the ABC broadcast, and I like Ryan Seacrest, and he's a great guy," Cohen said. "And I regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it."
John Hill, Cohen's co-host, noted that "the headline was what sucked" about Cohen's Seacrest comments, stating that, "I thought at the moment you understood the context."
"Exactly, that's the problem. Yeah," Cohen agreed. "The headlines about Ryan Seacrest are all like I trash Ryan Seacrest. I hope he hears the clip."
As for tabloid reports that Cohen was fired from CNN's following New Year's Eve special, a network spokesperson tells ET in a statement, "I can confirm that Andy Cohen will be back to co-host NYE on CNN next year."
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