Melissa Gorga defends Andy Cohen from allegations he plied Bravo stars with cocaine as SLEW of Real Housewives leap to support him amid Leah McSweeney lawsuit

A phalanx of Real Housewives sprang to Andy Cohen’s defense after he was sued by Real Housewives Of New York City alum Leah McSweeney.

McSweeney leveled a string of explosive allegations against Cohen and Bravo, including that they took advantage of her drinking problem for ratings and that Cohen used to offer cocaine to preferred cast members on his reality shows.

Cohen denied the bombshell accusations, and the Real Housewives have closed ranks around him, issuing statements in his support.

Melissa Gorga, a Real Housewife Of New Jersey since 2011, told Page Six: ‘Throughout my 14 years of working with Andy, I have witnessed nothing but respect, kindness and support. I have never been offered any type of drug by him ever.’

She added: ‘His leadership style exemplifies authenticity. He prioritizes open communication and he’s very approachable. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and grow under his guidance and share in his success.’ 

Martina Navratilova’s wife Julia Legimova, who is a Real Housewife Of Miami, echoed Melissa’s glowing appraisal of their work environment.

She insisted Cohen and Bravo ‘have been nothing but great to me and I consider myself lucky to be now part of this family. And if there is a question, we always have resources. We even have psychologists on our team if we need to speak to somebody…. To me, you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.’

In response to McSweeney’s claim that the Housewives were pressured to drink too much, Legimova argued that the reality stars were all ‘grown-a** women’ with control of their own intake, adding: ‘Nobody has ever pushed me to drink. Sometimes I put tequila in my drink, sometimes I put water. We can make our own choices.’

New Housewife Of New Jersey Rachel Fuda, who only joined the program last year, also gave a warm evaluation of the Bravo impresario.

‘I’m new to this world, I’ve had a few interactions with Andy and he’s been nothing but professional and kind and I don’t see a correlation of anything of these allegations with his behavior and the way that he has treated me,’ she said.

‘He’s been very professional, we’ve had professional conversations. There’s been nothing inappropriate. And I just think in life, we all have different experiences of things and some are saltier than others.’

Fuda alluded to the fact that Leah was a Housewife from 2020 until 2021 and was not brought back when The Real Housewives Of New York City got rebooted with a new cast. ‘All of it kind of seems very calculated,’ said Fuda.

She qualified: ‘I’m not taking away the fact that that could have very well been her experience. But I just think, How long has she not been a Housewife for?’

During McSweeney’s first season as a Real Housewife, she had recently fallen off the wagon, but by her second season, she was sober again.

McSweeney has accused the show of making use of her alcohol struggles for ratings, but Fuda took the view that ‘if you’re entering a show like this, you need to be equipped with the toolbox to take on a beast like this.’

She insisted: ‘You don’t walk into this and not know the nature of the beast. That’s my opinion. If you are recovering in any way, you need to have your s*** in order.’

The Real Housewives Of Potomac’s Ashley Darby responded to the cocaine allegation by saying: ‘I can only speak to how Andy has been with me over these last eight years and even when I’ve seen him out and about. Around Fashion Week a couple of years ago, we were in the same club and I saw nothing of the sort.’

She continued: ‘He’s just always been really professional with me and I’ve always felt like he’s treated me equally and fairly,’ and in reference to Leah’s allegations said: ‘I’ve never experienced this. It really catches me off guard.’

Darby averred that her show’s production company ‘has always been very considerate’ whenever she took breaks from alcohol during the shoot.

‘No one ever tries to force me or coerce me into doing anything. That’s something I really appreciate and one of the reasons that I feel so comfortable sharing my life.’

Darby continued: ‘I feel like they do respect my boundaries and what I believe in. It really is on my terms.’

Wendy Osufo, also of The Real Housewives Of Potomac, remarked in a similar vein: ‘I have not experienced [producers forcing talent to drink] at all. It’s always been up to me, so that’s not something I’ve seen or witnessed.’

Gorga, Fuda and Legimova echoed the contention that they were never pressured into drinking too much while making their respective reality shows. 

Lisa Hochstein posted to Instagram on Friday that Cohen ‘has always been a standup man to me, my family, and my entire RHOM cast.’ 

The latest outpouring of support from Bravo stars comes one day after Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Kandi Burruss weighed in on the discussion surrounding Leah’s suit.

While appearing on Thursday’s episode of Tamron Hall’s daytime talk show, the 47-year-old reality star made it clear where she stands on the fashion designer’s claims that the producer ‘encourage substance abuse to artificially create drama and cynically prey on the vulnerabilities of their employees.’ 

‘I don’t want to get too involved in their legal matters or whatever, but I have had — and I hope to continue — to have a good relationship with the network,’ she told the  broadcast journalist, 53.

She continued, ‘And the reason why I can vouch for how I feel… I’ve been on that show for 14 years, and nobody can make me do anything. So, people know I don’t do drugs, I’ve never been drunk in my life, and yes, I mean, some people ask for a little wine or a drink or whatever because that’s what they like.’ 

The TV personality added that many members of the franchise ‘like to have wine’ and ‘have drinks.’ 

‘That’s what they do when they want to have fun. Do I have drinks? No. So, the same way that I have a choice, they have a choice, too,’ Burruss concluded. ‘Nobody is making you do anything.’

The appearance comes after former Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney accused Cohen of engaging ‘in cocaine use with Housewives that he employs’ in a new lawsuit. 

McSweeney said in court docs reviewed by Page Six that Cohen ‘tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment’ and strategic editing to make them look better.

Cohen ‘intentionally uses cocaine with his employees to further promote a workplace culture that thrives off drug and alcohol use, which leads to a failure to accommodate employees who are disabled and trying to stay substance free,’ McSweeney said in court docs. 

A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com that ‘the claims against Andy are completely false.’

McSweeney, 41, appeared on two seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City in 2020-2021, and on a season of Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, which aired last year. 

McSweeney said in the legal docs that Bravo ‘thrives off drug and alcohol use,’ without naming any further parties past Cohen.

McSweeney said in court docs reviewed by Page Six that she informed Bravo producers prior to her casting on the series, that she had been focused on staying sober, and had a 30-day streak of sobriety going into the show.

McSweeney told the court that producers failed to make a ‘reasonable accommodation’ for her addiction-related disability – but instead provided her ‘with unlimited, free-of charge alcoholic beverages,’ and ‘encouraged her to consume those alcoholic beverages.’

McSweeney’s legal team said that ‘this environment caused Ms. McSweeney to relapse into alcohol addiction shortly after joining RHONY season 12.’

McSweeney said in court docs that Bravo producers sought to sabotage her sobriety by both exacerbating it and stopping her from getting treatment for her problem.

McSweeney told the court that Bravo executives violated her employment rights under the Disabilities Act by preventing her to get help for her alcohol issues, knowing she was dealing with them.

McSweeney, who has a fashion label called Married To The Mob, said in the legal docs that sexual harassment was also rife in the company, claiming that a senior producer ‘routinely sends unsolicited pictures of [their] genitalia to lower-level … production employees,’ and that executives have ignored the issues.

McSweeney said in legal docs that Bravo and Shed Media, a production company it works with on its shows, continued to promote the unnamed senior producer in question ‘to positions of increased power.’ 

In ‘failing to take appropriate remedial action’ amid the claims, McSweeney said in court docs, Bravo and Shed officials ‘tacitly’ signaled to both the senior producer and ‘all other employees that they can engage in unlawful employment practices with impunity.’

McSweeney in her suit, which is for unspecified damages, named Cohen, Bravo, Shed Media and Shed’s parent company Warner Media.