Plead the fifth? Pass. Andy Cohen is sharing how he really feels about the buzz surrounding his boozy New Year's Eve live broadcast.
"Listen, I will not be shamed for having fun on New Year's Eve," he said during the Jan. 4 episode of SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show. "That's why I'm there. That's why they bring me there."
For those who weren't watching live, Cohen hosted CNN's New Year's Eve Live from New York's Times Square on Dec. 31. And as the Bravo star put it in an Instagram post, he "was a hair over-served" that night.
During the last hour of the broadcast, he criticized former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, sent a message to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg about "messing with all of us," and made comments about ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast, which was being hosted mere steps away by Ryan Seacrest. While Journey sang a medley of songs during ABC's broadcast, Cohen made a comment about the smoke coming from the stage of "Ryan Seacrest's group of losers that are performing behind us."
"I mean, with all due, if you've been watching ABC tonight, you've seen nothing," he added. "I'm sorry. It's true."
He also called the group "the fake Journey" since Steve Perry wasn't there. "If it's not Steve Perry," he said, "it doesn't count."
So even though CNN's broadcast was hours long, most of the internet frenzy seemed to be focused on the end of the night.
"It's a four-and-a-half-hour show," Cohen told Howard Stern. "The booze started kicking in around 11:30. So everyone's focusing on kind of the last 45 minutes or hour that we were on the air. I kicked into high gear with 45 minutes left. So, we had done 15 interviews before that point."
So, no, he's not crying over spilled booze. "I won't be shamed for it," he continued. "I had a blast. Anderson had a blast. We left and we were like, ‘That was fun. What a fun New Year's Eve.' No apologies for my drinking on New Year's Eve. None."
When Stern's co-host Robin Quivers asked if anyone at CNN spoke to Cohen, the Watch What Happens Live host replied, "The only direction that I get every year from [CNN president] Jeff Zucker is ‘Have fun.' There you go. That is my job." (A spokesperson for CNN told E! News that while "Andy said something he shouldn't have on live TV," they "look forward to having him back again next year.")
Cohen also pointed out that 2021 had been a "middling year" that ended with "a car crash of covid" and the death of Betty White. As he put it, "It was like, ‘We gotta kick it into gear. We gotta have fun. A lot of people are home spending their evenings with us.'"
Still, Cohen admitted he regretted his comments about ABC and Seacrest, who hosts the network's Live With Kelly and Ryan alongside his pal Kelly Ripa.
"She is not upset with me," Cohen noted of Ripa. "As I was going on my rant about Journey, I did wind up kind of starting to throw ABC under the bus and that is my only regret from the night because I really like Ryan Seacrest. He's a really nice guy. And I was—as they say—in my cups, and I was kind of enjoying the rant. I was like, ‘Wow, it's really fun being on CNN just ranting like a nutty guy. This is fun.' So I kept going and that I felt bad about…and I texted Ryan the next morning."
And, actually, there's one other time he wished he'd kept his mouth shut. "Towards the end of the de Blasio rant, I said something like, ‘And I have a feeling I'll be here next year,'" he recalled. "And when I saw the clip, I was like, ‘Dude, that's the clip they're going to play when you get canceled this year.' They're going to be like, ‘I guess he's not going to be there next year.' Although, CNN announced yesterday I'm coming back next year, so I was happy for that."
So until next year's broadcast, check out Cohen's interview above.
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family).