Andy Cohen calls Leah McSweeney's lawsuit ‘completely false’

Andy Cohen, the face of the Real Housewives franchise, is facing new legal challenges. Former cast member of The Real Housewives of New York City, Leah McSweeney, filed a lawsuit against Cohen, Bravo, NBCUniversal, and several producers, alleging a "dangerous work environment" and "substance abuse" encouragement.

McSweeney's lawsuit claims that producers, aware of her struggles with alcohol and mental health, pressured her to drink while filming. The suit further alleges that Cohen himself engaged in "cocaine use with 'Housewives' and other Bravolebrities," and that he favoured cast members who participated in such activities.

Cohen's representative released a statement to Entertainment Weekly, calling the claims "the claims against Andy are completely false.”

“It’s outrageous that anyone would make a claim that Andy does cocaine with any Housewives,” added a source. This denial comes amidst other recent controversies surrounding the Real Housewives franchise, including a sexual harassment allegation from another former cast member.

On Wednesday morning, McSweeney took to Instagram to share her complaint. She called the alleged behaviour from producers "diabolical" in a lengthy post.

As per her suit, in Bravoland she found a “rotted workplace culture that uniquely depended on pressuring its employees to consume alcohol.”

The lawsuit claims that producers were aware of her struggles with alcohol use disorder and still “colluded with her colleagues to pressure Ms McSweeney to drink, retaliated against her when she wanted to stay sober, and intentionally failed to provide reasonable accommodations that would aid her efforts to stay sober and able to perform.”