Leah McSweeney Vs. Bravo
In the world of reality television, where manufactured glitz and glamour often overshadow behind-the-scenes horrors, a new storm is brewing.
“McSweeney turned it up. She drank. And drank. And took off her clothes. And threw a lit tiki torch across the lawn. When the episode aired, “Hurricane Leah” would be instantly iconic, a rare first-season star.” — VANITY FAIR
Yesterday, former Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney unleashed a legal battle against the maestro of reality TV himself, Andy Cohen, alongside a slew of other industry giants, including Bravo Media, NBC Universal Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, and production company Shed Media US, along with producers John Paparazzo, Lisa Shannon, and Darren Ward.
The civil lawsuit, unveiled by the Southern District of New York, paints a disturbing picture of what allegedly lurks behind the Bravo camera lens. Within its 109 pages are shocking claims of a toxic workplace culture, where Leah alleges pressures to consume alcohol was not only rampant but heavily encouraged.
She also alleges that the defendants turned a blind eye to maintaining a safe working environment and accommodating her disabilities, which include "alcohol use disorder" and "mental health disorders." Despite her courageous disclosure of breaking nine years of sobriety, McSweeney asserts that she was sober by the time filming for season 12 commenced in 2019.
In a damning revelation, McSweeney further contends that producers were fully aware of her struggles with alcohol use disorder, yet instead of offering support, they allegedly schemed to exploit her vulnerabilities, orchestrating scenarios designed to exacerbate her disabilities in a bid to generate sensationalized reality television.
But the allegations don't stop there. McSweeney targets what she describes as Cohen's clandestine world, accusing him of engaging in cocaine use with Housewives and other 'Bravolebrities,' a claim vehemently denied by a representative for Cohen.
According to McSweeney, Cohen's purported "proclivity for cocaine usage" extends beyond personal indulgence, influencing the workplace culture and the treatment of employees. She alleges that those who partake in Cohen's favored pastime receive preferential treatment and edits, perpetuating an environment that thrives on substance abuse to the detriment of those seeking sobriety and accommodation for their disabilities.
As the legal saga unfolds, casting a shadow over the glitzy facade of reality television, one thing remains clear: behind the scenes of the Real Housewives franchise lies a world far removed from the scripted drama played out on screen, where the pursuit of ratings and entertainment allegedly comes at a grave cost to those ensnared in its web.
But good TV is good TV.
PHOTOGRAPH BY GILLIAN LAUB
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“More than a month later, on an early September cast trip to the Hamptons, McSweeney began drinking again. “I don’t consider myself an alcoholic at all. I’ve been drinking for the last six months or so, and I pick and choose when I drink,” she said on camera that season. (McSweeney now says she was trying to keep her relapse from becoming a storyline.) McSweeney says co-showrunner Darren Ward had warned her, “This shit is boring as hell,” and “You better turn it up.” (Ward did not respond to questions from VF.) McSweeney turned it up. She drank. And drank. And took off her clothes. And, wearing only a thong, threw a lit tiki torch across Singer’s lawn. She doesn’t remember that evening because she was “browned out,” she says, but when the episode aired in April 2020, McSweeney as “Hurricane Leah” was instantly iconic.
McSweeney says that in April 2020 during an off-air exchange on WWHL, Cohen asked her, “Were you already drinking? Or was your relapse at the winery, or on the trip?” She told him she wasn’t dry when filming began, hoping to de-emphasize it. She believes “he looked disappointed” that the exact moment of McSweeney’s relapse wouldn’t be documented on the show. During taping of the season 12 reunion in August 2020, McSweeney says Cohen asked which drugs she’d used during her active addiction. (Through a Bravo representative, Cohen declined to answer questions.)
The following season, according to McSweeney, Morgan was so inebriated that she vomited and urinated on herself on a different trip to the Hamptons. Whatever footage there may have been did not air. (Morgan didn’t respond to questions from VF, and a source with insight says producers don’t recall the incident.) Someone documented in the hot sheet for October 22, 2020, that Morgan was “continuously getting more and more out of control and drunk.” In 2015, during a trip to Atlantic City, a RHONY cast member told production that Morgan was too drunk to film and that a real intervention was necessary. Frankel staged one on camera. It didn’t take.
McSweeney says the only time production intervened in her own drinking was when Singer complained to producers that McSweeney had been too disruptive while filming in Rhode Island. On the trip, McSweeney threw a martini glass during one dinner and ravioli at Singer during another. (A source involved with production says, “If the cast is out at a restaurant, production pays the restaurant bill. On production trips, production stocks the fridge and pantry with requested food and beverages.”) McSweeney says Shannon phoned her and said, “We need you to be lucid,” and at Shannon’s request, a mental health professional called McSweeney, though they did not mention alcohol.”
Kathy Griffin claimed Andy Cohen offered her cocaine before ‘WWHL’ years prior to Leah McSweeney’s bombshell lawsuit
Kathy Griffin once claimed Andy Cohen offered her cocaine before appearing on his late-night show, “Watch What Happens Live,” years prior to Leah McSweeney filing her bombshell lawsuit against him claiming he had a penchant for the powder.
“Right before we went live, Andy Cohen privately asked me in an office in Embassy Row — which is the production company that does that s–t show — if I wanted to do blow,” Griffin said in a 2017 Twitter video.
“You guys know I’m no prude but I’m like, kind of a straight edge — I thought he was kidding the first time,” Griffin, now 63, continued.
“Just so you know, Jimmy Kimmel or Seth Meyers never asked me to do blow before going on their show. No one from ‘The View’ has ever asked me to do blow before a show.”
The “Suddenly Susan” alum further alleged that she got the same invitation the second time she appeared on Cohen’s show.
“That’s why I don’t do that show, and I don’t know why he gets away with that,” she said.
Cohen, now 55, vehemently denied Griffin’s claims at the time.
“I am completely stunned by this story,” he wrote in a since-deleted tweet. “It is 100% false and totally made up.”
— Page Six
LEAH’S LAWSUIT HIGHLIGHTS
