Credit: Bravo
Andy Cohen called Leah McSweeney’s lawsuit a “shakedown,” claiming the Real Housewives of New York star is attempting to “force an unjustified settlement.”
Last month, Leah filed a lawsuit claiming Andy does cocaine with certain ‘Housewives.’ She also alleged he was one of many who attempted to exploit her mental health and sobriety.
Leah’s lawyers, however, claimed to Page Six that Andy is just trying to silence alleged victims – who are like Leah – through bullying.
Andy claimed the cocaine allegations are “categorically false,” and his attorney wrote in a letter that the lawsuit is “littered with false, offensive, and defamatory statements” concerning the host, adding, “we demand that you immediately retract and withdraw all allegations relating to Mr. Cohen’s purported ‘cocaine use.’”
“If you refuse to do so, Mr. Cohen reserves the right to hold you and your client accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” the letter read.
The letter continued, “The allegations were obviously made up by you and/or your client to achieve maximum tabloid clickbait value in the hopes of weaponizing these false allegations—along with other lies that permeate the complaint—as leverage to force an unjustified settlement. It will not. Instead, this conduct only subjects you and your client to independent and substantial legal exposure.”
“An allegation of drug use in the workplace is a serious charge,” the letter went on. “Your reason for inventing the false allegations in the first place … [is] to create a media frenzy and pressure in an attempt to force a settlement … These allegations are missing every detail, including the who, where, and when.”
His team then asked for an apology.
“We demand that you issue an immediate public retraction and apologize to Mr. Cohen. Every day you fail to do so only increases the damages suffered by Mr. Cohen,” said the letter.
Leah’s lawyer Sarah M. Matz gave a response to the outlet: “That Andy Cohen had his counsel and PR agents write a threatening letter to give to the press is hardly surprising. Mr. Cohen is accustomed to using his power in the media to scare and intimidate people like Ms. McSweeney so that they will not speak out. Mr. Cohen’s attempt to discredit and intimidate Ms. McSweeney to deter her from engaging in legally protected activity in Court is exactly the type of retaliation that this lawsuit was brought to address and only is further evidence for Ms. McSweeney.”
The attorney continued, “We do not intend to litigate this matter in the press, and if Mr. Cohen wants to address Ms. McSweeney’s claims, we suggest he do so in Court, not in a letter for the press.”
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