Kathy Griffin believes some “Housewives” are “scared” of Andy Cohen because he holds the fate of their careers in his hands.
“As long as he’s choosing the ‘Housewives’ and involved with the ‘Housewives,’ they’re probably pretty scared of him, and I don’t blame them,” Griffin said on the “Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel” podcast Thursday.
“I mean, these are women that are on that show, and many of them are getting DUIs … gone to prison.“
As the Bravo bigwig faces a bombshell lawsuit from former “Real Housewives of New York City” star Leah McSweeney for allegedly preying on her alcoholism, the “My Life on the D-List” alum told host Uchitel that she believes reality TV producers “very strongly” encourage stars to “drink a lot.”
“I listen to those women when they say we were pummeled with alcohol,” Griffin, 63, said. “I wouldn’t write that off.”
Although she doesn’t believe Cohen, 55, is “pouring the drinks,” Griffin said plying cast members with alcohol “wouldn’t surprise” her given the “nature of the behavior” that appears on the “Housewives” franchise.
“If you’re not flipping a table, you might get fired,” she said. “In order to stay on the show, [they think], ‘I have to manufacture this drama.’”
Unfortunately, Griffin said the crafted drama has led to “real consequences” for many of the “Housewives.”
McSweeney, 41, sued Cohen in February, claiming he and the networked tirelessly tried to get her to relapse, but when she didn’t, production tried to destabilize her mentally to induce a breakdown for the cameras.
She further alleged that Cohen would regularly snort cocaine with a coterie of his favorite “Housewives.”
“The claims against Andy are completely false,” a rep for Cohen told Page Six at the time.
Years prior to the Married to the Mob designer’s lawsuit, Griffin actually claimed the King of Bravo had offered her cocaine before appearing on his late-night show, “Watch What Happens Live.”
“Right before we went live, Andy Cohen privately asked me in an office in Embassy Row — which is the production company that does that s–t show — if I wanted to do blow,” Griffin said in a 2017 Twitter video.
“You guys know I’m no prude, but I’m, like, kind of a straight edge — I thought he was kidding the first time.”
