Lisa Vanderpump Reacts to Andy Cohen’s Misconduct Allegations

Lisa Vanderpump is standing firmly in Andy Cohen’s corner.

The Vanderpump Rules namesake, 63, voiced her support for the Watch What Happens Live host amid recent allegations about inappropriate behavior made against him by former Bravo personalities.

After being asked where she “stands” with Cohen during a Tuesday, April 23, appearance on The Talk, Vanderpump explained that she has “had a very close relationship with Andy over the years,” describing it as a “very playful relationship.”

“I think I’ve been one of the few people that have done Watch What Happens Live on their own for many years and had a kind of very connected relationship, and he’s playful,” she said.

“He’s inappropriately naughty, like I am, too. I mean, that’s what Bravo is a lot of the time. But it is innocuous. He’s a gay man that we have a lot of fun with. So, am I on his side? Damn right, I’m on his side,” Vanderpump continued. Her comment prompted claps from the studio audience.

The television personality added that “it’s strange” that “a lot of these allegations seem to come from people that are no longer working for Bravo.” 

Regarding rumors that Cohen, 55, may leave the network (which Bravo denied in a statement to PEOPLE), Vanderpump said, “I hope not. I really do.”

She ended her comments about Cohen by explaining that his talk show is also “where you can be slightly inappropriate and slightly naughty.”

“But when it comes to these drug allegations, a thousand percent I would know, and no way does it ever happen,” she added.

In February, former Real Housewives of New York City star Leah McSweeney filed a civil lawsuit against Cohen and Bravo claiming that they facilitated a “rotted” workplace culture where employees were pressured to consume alcohol. 

Apart from alleging that they failed to maintain a safe working environment that accommodated her disabilities including “alcohol use disorder” and “mental health disorders,” McSweeney, 41, alleged that Cohen “engages in cocaine use with Housewives and other ‘Bravolebrities’ that he employs.”

Cohen’s attorney, Orin Snyder, responded to McSweeney’s filing in a letter obtained by PEOPLE. Snyder expressed that it is “littered with false, offensive, and defamatory statements” and called for her to “immediately” retract and withdraw her claims.

Cohen also issued an apology to former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville in February after she accused him of sexual harassment after he sent her an inappropriate video recording back in 2022.

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“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,” Cohen wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Back in April 2022, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes sued Cohen, Bravo and NBC Universal alleging they violated federal employment and anti-discrimination laws. Leakes later dismissed her lawsuit in August 2022.