The Real Housewives of New York City alum Leah McSweeney named Bravo and Andy Cohen in a 2024 lawsuit, claiming production encouraged her to relapse after years of sobriety.
“Your 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,” McSweeney claimed in a February 2024 statement shared via Instagram. “It’s a workplace culture where toxicity, alcoholism and pain are not only expected but encouraged and facilitated.”
Cohen and Bravo, for their parts, vehemently denied the accusations at the time — and have tried to dismiss McSweeney’s lawsuit on several occasions.
Keep scrolling for a full breakdown of McSweeney’s legal battle with Bravo:
What Is Leah McSweeney’s Bravo History?
Leah McSweeney served as a Housewife on Bravo’s RHONY for seasons 12 and 13, which aired in 2020 and 2021. She also appeared on The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip season 3 in 2023.
When McSweeney went on RHONY and UGT, she allegedly told the network that she was sober for 30 days after previously struggling with substance abuse issues and hoped to maintain her sobriety while filming. In the lawsuit, the Bravo alum claimed that producers pressured her to drink throughout her reality TV tenure.
Leah McSweeney Files a Lawsuit
Leah McSweeney named Andy Cohen, an executive producer on the Housewives franchise, and Bravo in a 2024 lawsuit.
“I’ve been trying to address this internally for years now but have been dismissed, stone-walled, and gaslit (but actually) at every turn since,” she wrote in an Instagram statement. “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.”
McSweeney further claimed in her court documents obtained by Us that Cohen “engaged in cocaine use” with multiple Bravolebrities and allegedly rewarded participants with “more favorable treatment and edits.”
Andy Cohen Responds to Leah McSweeney’s Lawsuit Claims
Andy Cohen has vehemently denied Leah McSweeney’s accusations on numerous occasions.
“The claims against Andy are completely false,” Cohen’s rep stated in a February 2024 statement.
Months later, Cohen also claimed that production is accommodating of cast members’ sobriety journeys.
“What I’ll say about the alcohol is that we have so many sober people and people who have gotten sober on the show, like Countess Luann [de Lesseps],” Cohen told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2024. “We have people who’ve never had a drink during the entire run of the show: Jill Zarin, Kandi Burruss [and] Heather Dubrow will just have an occasional glass of champagne.”
He continued, “So sure, there are people who drink. There are many people who never drink. We don’t force anyone to do anything. But no one is secretly hiding liquor bottles on set. That’s ridiculous. We’ve been very supportive of people’s sobriety.”
Andy Cohen Is Cleared of Drug Accusations by Bravo
After Leah McSweeney filed her lawsuit, Bravo initiated an investigation into her allegations. By May 2024, Andy Cohen was cleared of potential misconduct.
“The outside investigation into the recent allegations … has now been completed, and the claims were found to be unsubstantiated,” a Bravo rep told Deadline at the time.
Leah McSweeney and Andy Cohen’s Lawsuit Will Proceed to Trial
Us confirmed in March 2026 that a judge denied Bravo and Andy Cohen’s request to move their dispute with Leah McSweeney to private arbitration. (Cohen and Bravo are co-defendants alongside other show producers.)
“Defendants did not seek to compel arbitration in this case until they had first invoked the Court’s ‘authority and sought affirmative dispositive relief,’” the judge wrote of his ruling. “They did so, in part, by raising challenging and difficult issues of First Amendment law that, if the Court had accepted, would have resulted in dismissal of most of Plaintiff’s claims. It was not until after they had taken that gambit and lost, and after they confronted what might have appeared to be the daunting specter of civil discovery in federal court, that they changed course and asserted that the Court should never have exercised its authority in the first place.”
A court date has not yet been set.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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