Andy Cohenis defending his alcohol-fueled New Year’s Eve broadcast on CNN.
Last Friday, Cohen, 53, hosted the network’sNew Year’s Eve Livefrom New York’s Times Square alongsideAnderson Cooper. The Bravo producerhas since admittedto being “overserved,” but he recently toldHoward Sternthat he will make no apologies for his drinking.
“Listen, I will not be shamed for having fun on New Year’s Eve,” he said onThe Howard Stern ShowWednesday.“That’s why I’m there, that’s why they bring me there. It’s a four-and-a-half-hour show, the booze started kicking in around 11:30 so everyone’s focusing on 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.”
Cohen continued, “I won’t be shamed for it, I had a blast, Anderson has 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.”
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He went on to say that CNN president Jeff Zucker directed him to “have fun” on the show. “There you go, that is my job,” Cohen said.
“It was not only a middling year, but it ended in acar crash of COVIDandBetty White dyingon the day of New Year’s Eve, who everyone loved, so it was like, we got to kick it into gear. We got to have fun, a lot of people are home spending their evenings with us,” theWatch What Happens Livehost added.
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Cohen did repeat his previous statement that his “only regret” from the evening was his jab atRyan Seacrestand his ABC broadcast,Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin' Eve. (Cohen called ABC’s performers a “group of losers” while ranting about how the band Journey isn’t the same without original lead singer Steve Perry).
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“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,” he told Stern.
On Monday, CNN confirmed that Cohenwill be returningto co-host its special in December 2022.
source: people.com
