“Threats like this are to intimidate and try to silence me and other people who want to speak out,” McSweeney said in a statement to PEOPLE
Leah McSweeney is doubling down on her claims against Andy Cohen.
Nearly four months after the former Real Housewives of New York City star, 41, filed a lawsuit against Cohen, Bravo Media, NBC Universal Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, production company Shed Media US and producers John Paparazzo, Lisa Shannon and Darren Ward, alleging that they facilitated a “rotted” workplace culture where employees were pressured to consume alcohol, McSweeney is claiming she has now been met with “retaliation.”
“In direct response to McSweeney’s filing of the Complaint in this action, Defendant Cohen further retaliated against Ms. McSweeney,” an amended lawsuit filed by the former reality star’s lawyers, which was obtained by PEOPLE, reads.
The lawsuit alleges that Cohen’s letter to McSweeney in March, in which his lawyers denied the claims and demanded she retract her “false, offensive, and defamatory statements,” was “baseless and was intended—once again—to scare Ms. McSweeney into silence.”
McSweeney claims that by Cohen, 56, making the contents of the letter public, he “intended to smear” her name in the media and “dissuade” her from further pursuing her lawsuit and be “blackballed” from the entertainment industry.
In a statement to PEOPLE, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip 3 alum states: “Andy Cohen and his lawyers accused me of filing my lawsuit to get headlines, accused me of lying, and wrongly threatened me with legal action, even though they are well aware that I am within my legal rights.”
“This is flat out bully behavior and that’s par for the course. Threats like this are to intimidate and try to silence me and other people who want to speak out. I think it’s very clear to anyone paying attention that Mr. Cohen is the one who is obsessed with being in the headlines,” her statement continued.
Bravo had no comment when reached by PEOPLE. Reps for Cohen, Shed and Warner Bros did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Glanville alleged that Cohen sent her a video in 2022 in which he was “obviously inebriated” and “boasted of his intention to sleep with another Bravo star that night while thinking of her and invited her to watch via Facetime.”
Cohen later issued an apology on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The video shows Kate Chastain and I very clearly joking to Brandi. It was absolutely meant in jest, and Brandi’s response clearly communicated she was in on the joke. That said, it was totally inappropriate and I apologize,” his statement read.
In May, Bravo confirmed to PEOPLE that an outside investigation into Cohen had been closed.
