Vicki Gunvalson is taking Andy Cohen’s side in his legal drama with The Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney.
“I don’t know much other than she is suing Andy, which is crazy to me,” Gunvalson, 61, exclusively told Us Weekly at DirectTV’s Oscars Viewing Party at Spago, Beverly Hills, on Sunday, March 10. “Why she is waiting now for everybody else and bringing our bosses down, I don’t know because I wasn’t there.”
The former Real Housewives of Orange County star (an OG of the entire franchise) told Us that she respects and loves Cohen, 55, adding, “He has always been professional with me, we have a very big relationship.”
Gunvalson went on to call McSweeney’s lawsuit “dirty” and said she thinks McSweeney’s “trying to get deep pockets” from it.”
McSweeney, who previously appeared on RHONY and The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, filed a civil lawsuit against Cohen and Bravo last month, claiming she was pressured into drinking while filming despite becoming sober not long before joining the reality franchise.
Court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter also accuse Cohen of engaging in “cocaine use” with Bravo stars and giving “favorable treatment” to those who party with him. (Us has reached out to Bravo for comment.)
“There is nothing more important than my sobriety, without it, I risk losing everything,” McSweeney wrote in a lengthy February 27 Instagram statement. “I have been very transparent about my addiction and recovery, however, there are personal things in the lawsuit that I never wanted to disclose for fear of being judged and shamed, but I am at a point now in my life where I feel strong enough to withstand whatever may come my way.”
McSweeney also claimed that she had been trying to address her issues with the on-set behavior “internally for years now but have been dismissed, stone-walled and gaslit (but actually) at every turn since.”
She continued: “Bravo can try to manipulate my reality and others’ all they want, but the cold hard facts of this case are as real as it gets. Thank you to my close friends and family and of course @adelmanmatz who have supported me in every difficult but necessary step of this journey. I will see you in court.”
Fellow Bravolebrity Sutton Stracke also weighed in on the drama with Us on Sunday, sharing, “Andy has been nothing but a gentleman when I had my health scare on onset, he was the first one to come to my aid. And I think that he really cares for people and he’s very smart and never have I ever been put in a situation that I felt uncomfortable with or unsafe.”
Stracke, who suffered a health scare while filming The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 reunion, added that she doesn’t think Cohen “would ever out anyone else in that situation.”
A rep for Cohen responded to McSweeney’s lawsuit in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter last month, calling her claims “completely false.” Several Real Housewives stars have since spoken out in support of the bravo executive, including Melissa Gorga.
“Listen, is Andy a fun guy? Yes, of course, he is. It’s why we all know and love him. He’s a personality,” the Real Housewives of New Jersey star said on the March 7 episode of her “On Display With Melissa Gorga” podcast.
Gorga’s podcast guest, RHONY alum Luann De Lesseps, said, “[Andy’s] not going to be that stupid to start offering things to Housewives.”
With reporting by Amanda Williams
