{"id":8850,"date":"2024-05-03T04:12:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T04:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/?p=8850"},"modified":"2024-05-03T04:12:10","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T04:12:10","slug":"rhonys-leah-mcsweeney-sues-bravo-and-andy-cohen-claims-producers-encouraged-her-to-relapse-and-alleges-andy-did-cocaine-with-favorite-housewives-as-andy-responds-see-which-nhungc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/rhonys-leah-mcsweeney-sues-bravo-and-andy-cohen-claims-producers-encouraged-her-to-relapse-and-alleges-andy-did-cocaine-with-favorite-housewives-as-andy-responds-see-which-nhungc\/","title":{"rendered":"RHONY\u2019s Leah McSweeney Sues Bravo and Andy Cohen, Claims Producers \u201cEncouraged\u201d Her to Relapse and Alleges Andy Did Cocaine With Favorite Housewives as Andy Responds, See Which Bravolebrities Are Weighing In"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"RHONY's<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Leah McSweeney\u00a0has filed a bombshell lawsuit against Bravo and\u00a0Andy Cohen, claiming producers of\u00a0The Real Housewives of New York City\u00a0and\u00a0Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip\u00a0encouraged her to drink in an effort to score big ratings for their shows.<\/p>\n

In addition to accusing Andy, 55, of snorting cocaine with his favorite\u00a0Real Housewives\u00a0cast members, Leah, 41, says producers of the shows, on which she starred for a total of three seasons,\u00a0preyed on her alcohol dependency, attempting to coax her into a relapse and refusing her time to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings amid\u00a0her recovery.<\/p>\n

In court documents obtained by\u00a0Page Six\u00a0on February 27, Leah, who is represented by attorney\u00a0Adelman Matz, labeled Andy as \u201cdiabolical\u201d and said Bravo preys on the \u201cmisfortunes\u201d of its\u00a0female cast members\u00a0while ignoring \u201csexually predatory behavior\u201d by its staff.<\/p>\n

According to Leah, she alerted producers to her sobriety before filming her first scene for\u00a0RHONY<\/em>. However, despite that, they \u201cnot only supplied [her] with unlimited, free-of charge alcoholic beverages throughout Ms. McSweeney\u2019s employment as a cast member on\u00a0RHONY<\/em>\u00a0season 12, but also encouraged her to consume those alcoholic beverages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis environment caused [Leah] to relapse into alcohol addiction shortly after joining\u00a0RHONY<\/em>\u00a0season 12,\u201d the lawsuit explained.<\/p>\n

Still, after gaining her sobriety after\u00a0season 12, Leah returned for season 13 \u201cbecause she felt she could make her experience better.\u201d Unfortunately, during a meeting about the then-upcoming season, producers allegedly brushed off Leah\u2019s dependency on alcohol, asking, \u201cWell you don\u2019t have a problem\u2026 do you?\u201d<\/p>\n

During one particular episode of the show, which was filed amid a cast trip, Leah \u201cgrew mentally and physically ill, which manifested into extreme depressive symptoms.\u201d It was later confirmed to be the highest-rated episode of the season \u201call due to [the defendants\u2019] exacerbation of [Leah]\u2019s clear disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certain cast members \u201cexpressed concerns regarding [Leah]\u2019s erratic behavior,\u201d but a producer \u201ccalled [Leah] and told her that, despite relapsing into alcohol use disorder, [she] should continue to consume alcohol so long as she \u2018remain[ed] lucid\u2019 while filming,\u2019\u201d the lawsuit stated.<\/p>\n

Leah is suing Andy, Bravo, Shed Media, and Warner Media, which owns Shed, under the Disabilities Act, claiming Bravo breached her rights by refusing her proper care for her addiction; she\u2019s seeking unspecified damages.<\/p>\n

In addition to putting Leah \u201cin situations where she felt pressured to relapse into alcohol use disorder,\u201d producers allegedly praised cast members who drank and \u201c[glorified] their alcohol use,\u201d which made Leah concerned for her status with the network.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Leah] feared that her sobriety would cause a trickledown effect, where if she continued not to drink\u2026 [Andy], [the producers] and the audience would think she was boring [and Andy] would no longer want her on the show,\u201d the case stated.<\/p>\n

Before filming\u00a0RHUGT\u00a0in Thailand, Leah said she was told that she could attend AA meetings. However, once she arrived, she claims a producer told her the production company \u201crefused to provide transportation to get to the AA meetings in Thailand and that there would not be time for her to attend AA meetings given the filming schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leah is also suing for sexual discrimination, saying that\u00a0Andy asked her questions on air about her body and sex life when he didn\u2019t do the same with male cast members.<\/p>\n

In another portion of Leah\u2019s lawsuit, also reported by\u00a0Page Six, it was alleged that Andy snorts cocaine with his favorite\u00a0Housewives.<\/p>\n

After stating that Bravo is a network built on a culture that \u201cthrives off drug and alcohol use,\u201d Leah said\u00a0Andy \u201cengages in cocaine use with\u00a0Housewives<\/em>\u00a0that he employs,\u201d and that \u201c[his] proclivity for cocaine usage with his employees is well-known throughout the\u00a0Real Housewives<\/em>\u00a0franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, Cohen tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment and [makes them appear more agreeably in] edits [of their shows].\u201d<\/p>\n

She also said this alleged behavior \u201cleads to a failure to accommodate employees who are disabled and trying to stay substance free.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, Leah accused another producer, who was not named, of \u201croutinely [sending] unsolicited pictures of [their] genitalia to lower-level \u2026 production employees,\u201d<\/p>\n

Bravo and Shed \u201cknow or should know about [the producer\u2019s] sexual harassment, [they] continue to elevate [the producer] to positions of increased power \u2026 By failing to take appropriate remedial action [Bravo and Shed] tacitly send the message to [the producer] and all other employees that they can engage in unlawful employment practices with impunity,\u201d her lawsuit explained.<\/p>\n

In response to the lawsuit, a rep for Andy told Page Six, \u201cThe claims against Andy are completely false.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to another report from\u00a0Deadline, Andy \u201cwasn\u2019t particularly surprised\u201d by Leah\u2019s filing, especially after she threatened to take the network to court last year, accusing them of employment discrimination.<\/p>\n

After the filing of her lawsuit, Leah spoke out on Instagram with a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour favorite Bravo shows are run by people who create a dangerous work environment, encourage substance abuse to artificially create drama and cynically prey on the vulnerabilities of their employees,\u201d Leah wrote, in part. \u201cI may be a pariah to them after this, but I do hope my lawsuit helps reality TV to align with its true purpose: to authentically depict the complexities of life while offering genuine support to those who share their stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her full message can be seen below:<\/p>\n

\"RHONY<\/p>\n

After Leah\u2019s post was shared, she received a comment from\u00a0Brandi Glanville, 51, who threatened to sue Bravo and accused Andy of\u00a0sexual harassment\u00a0days ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are NOT expendable,\u201d Brandi wrote in a comment, along with a couple of clapping hands emojis. \u201cWe are strong women [and] even stronger together. Time to take our power back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leah\u2019s message also received \u201clikes\u201d from several Bravolebrities, including\u00a0Real Housewives of Dallas\u00a0alum\u00a0Brandi Redmond, 45,\u00a0Vanderpump Rules\u00a0star\u00a0Dayna Kathan, 33, and\u00a0RHONY\u2018s\u00a0Jenna Lyons, 55.<\/p>\n

\"RHONY<\/p>\n

Bravo has not yet responded to Leah\u2019s lawsuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leah McSweeney\u00a0has filed a bombshell lawsuit against Bravo and\u00a0Andy Cohen, claiming producers of\u00a0The Real Housewives of New York City\u00a0and\u00a0Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip\u00a0encouraged her to drink in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[785,784,786],"class_list":["post-8850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-claims-producers-encouraged-her-to-relapse-and-alleges-andy-did-cocaine-with-favorite-housewives-as-andy-responds","tag-rhonys-leah-mcsweeney-sues-bravo-and-andy-cohen","tag-see-which-bravolebrities-are-weighing-in"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8850"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8853,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8850\/revisions\/8853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}