Bethenny Frankel is weighing in on the legal letter Brandi Glanville filed in which she accused Andy Cohen of sexual harassment and Bravo of “using and abusing” her.
To start, the Real Housewives of New York alum addressed the Brandi/Andy situation on TikTok, comparing the Watch What Happens Live host to former NBC News anchor Matt Lauer, who was terminated after sexual misconduct allegations.
On February 25, Bethenny Frankel took to TikTok, saying, “So there’s a lot of talk about the Brandi/Andy situation on social media and the topic at hand is positions of power and abuse of power. Like, there was a Matt Lauer reference, which is a different story specifically. But he was in a [position of power].”
She continued, saying Andy “could really do whatever he wanted, and this is an alleged impropriety with an employee and talent.” She said it was “Interesting that he apologized publicly. Like, he definitely issued a public apology, but to who? Because I don’t believe she’s received a private apology.”
Bethenny concluded by saying, “So, was he apologizing to us? Or just explaining to us? But he didn’t send us the video, he sent her the video. So, did he apologize to her? I just thought that was an interesting question.”
@bethennyfrankel Why is he apologizing to us? I didn’t get a video??? #apology #bravo #andy #power #brandiglanville ? original sound – Bethenny Frankel
However, the Skinnygirl mogul didn’t stop there. She then dedicated an entire podcast to discussing Brandi’s sexual harassment allegations against Andy Cohen and Bravo.
On her Rewives podcast, Bethenny Frankel noted that Andy Cohen has “different relationships with every Housewife. Some could talking about business and money. Another could be his party friend. Somebody else could be his deep party friend. He has different relationships with different Bravolebrities. He picks his favorites.”
“He likes to hang out with housewives individually and Bravolebrities individually, not really in clusters. So there’s an individual relationship with each. And the thing is where Brandi’s lawyers say, ‘You know, that they haven’t seen something like this since Matt Lauer, and that he sits in this position while he’s inappropriately texting and sending videos to talent.’”
According to Bethenny Frankel, Andy is a unique position where he’s talent but also an executive producer at Bravo with the ability to hire and fire.
“The thing is, he works for a multi $1,000,000,000 public company. He’s an executive producer, and he also has a role on one show as talent. But he produces these shows, and he’s in a power position. It’s undeniable. He’s in a position to cast, to fire, to negotiate salaries, to approve, to deny, to put people in this seat, that seat. And he also is in control of all of the reunions, and he is the host of all the reunions. So he’s in an interesting hybrid position.
He’s also talent on a show where he is the producer, he owns part of the show, and he controls all the questions that often make people look bad. Like, no matter how you slice it, Andy Cohen is in a power position on Bravo. As a host of reunions, as a host of a show, as an owner of a show, as a person who produces reunions, an executive produces shows, as a person who looks at casting tapes and tries to decide who makes it and who breaks it. “
She then asks: “Should someone in a power position who has the ability to hire, to fire, and to control someone’s income and livelihood, should they be interacting with talent, getting drunk with talent, being at BravoCon, getting wasted and joking with talent?”
The Skinnygirl mogul notes that there’s new allegations against Bravo each week which is shocking in itself and wonders how Bravo handles these types of situations moving forward.
“Every week, there’s something new coming out. This this doesn’t happen in any other area of entertainment where every day ending in why there’s another claim against a network. And I don’t think they’re ending anytime soon,” Bethenny Frankel said, noting that Bravo is a “cesspool” that “perpetuates this type of abuse, this sexual abuse, this abuse of alcohol, this abuse of substances.”
“So where is the line? This public company has this person as the face of this brand, this entire Bravo brand with all of this power, and it’s out of control. So it’s gonna be interesting to see what happens. It’s insane.”