Andy Cohen is ready to let loose with Anderson Cooper as they gear up to host CNN’s annual New Year’s Eve broadcast from Times Square — but is Cooper prepared to take on another year of damage control should Cohen go a little too hard on the tequila?
On Monday night’s (Dec. 16) episode of Watch What Happens Live, Cooper revealed “the most annoying thing” about working with Cohen on New Year’s Eve.
“Just who he’s gonna insult and what the cleanup on aisle three is gonna be in the morning,” Cooper admitted.
The BFF duo has been hosting CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage ever since Cohen took over for Kathy Griffin in 2017. Their typical (yet iconic) antics include on-air tequila shots, which landed Cohen in some trouble a few years ago after he went on a tirade against then-outgoing New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and shaded his ABC counterpart Ryan Seacrest.
While ringing in 2022, Cohen celebrated the fact that New York City would be getting a new mayor. “Watching Mayor de Blasio do his ‘victory lap’ dance after four years of the crappiest job as the mayor of New York. The only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is what a horrible mayor he has been. Sayonara, sucka,” he said.
Cohen also slammed Seacrest and his team hosting ABC’s annual New Year’s Eve special, saying, “If you look behind me, you will see Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers performing. If you’re watching ABC, you’re watching nothing.”
The next day, Cohen admitted he was “a bit overserved.” And he later backtracked his comments about Seacrest on his Sirius XM show Andy Cohen Live.
Cohen’s rant resulted in CNN’s alcohol ban for on-air talent the following year — but after much begging, he and Cooper were allowed to drink during the 2023 broadcast. And it looks they will continue the tradition this year.
“Anderson and I will be saluting the new year with shots of tequila this year … which I am providing,” Cohen said on Watch What Happens Live. “I always bring the tequila, literally, on my own dime, come to think of it.”
Watch What Happens Live airs Sunday through Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
