Andy Cohen Says He Won’t Be Drinking While Hosting CNN’s New Year’s Coverage
Another update to CNN-NYE Sobergate ’23! Last year, Andy Cohen got all kinds of wasted on CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast. Rather than blame Andy, the network decided to blame booze. Last month, Variety reported that CNN expected their hosts and correspondents to scale back on the drinking. Andy responded to Variety’s report on Watch What Happens Live! with this proclamation: “Anderson and I are going to party harder than we have ever partied before on New Year’s Eve!” Then, yesterday, Rolling Stone published an interview with Andy (recorded last month), where he doubled down on his party plans. He claimed he and co-host Anderson Cooper would be “partying responsibly.” Unfortunately, in the weeks since, Andy has changed his tune. Today he told Page Six that he will not be drinking on New Year’s Eve. This isn’t to say there aren’t other substances Andy can use to get in the mood…
Andy tells Page Six that he and Anderson “aren’t drinking, but we’re going to have a BLAST.” This is a far cry from his earlier statements to Rolling Stone:
“CNN said the correspondents will not be drinking,” Cohen clarified to Rolling Stone. “Anderson and I will be the people partying on CNN [though] we will be partying responsibly,” he says.
“My job is to take Anderson out of his comfort zone [and] my job is to be a party ringleader for everyone watching us on New Year’s Eve,” Cohen explains. “And that is what I will continue to do. And as a matter of fact,” the host declares: “If the correspondents are not drinking this year, I will be partying even harder on their behalf.”
Great, now who’s going to take a giggly Anderson Cooper out of his comfort zone? Is it too late to hire Kathy Griffin to replace Sober-Andy? Her inclusion would certainly make Anderson uncomfortable.
The big question is, who got to Andy in the weeks since he did that Rolling Stone interview? CNN? That loser Ryan Seacrest? The Mormon Mafia (there’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City connection)? Or was Andy visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve? The Ghost of Boozings Past, the Ghost of Boozings Present, and the Ghost of Future Liver Failure. The first two ghosts were fun, but the third was a real buzzkill.
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