Like most of the Bravoverse, RHONY alum Dorinda Medley is confused by her former co-star Leah McSweeney’s lawsuit against Andy Cohen.
“I just didn’t understand it at all,” Dorinda Medley told Us Weekly. “I mean, listen, I was there [at Bravo] for six years. … I’ve always worked very well with production in every city. And for me, it was work and I had a lawyer. I read the contract, I signed, I did my work and I left. So, I was very surprised by all that.”
According to Dorinda, in her experience, Real Housewives stars don’t spend much time with their boss and executive producer Andy Cohen beyond the reunion or appearing on Watch What Happens Live or events like BravoCon.
“I don’t really see Andy,” she said. “It’s not like we hung out with Andy. That’s the weird part of it.”
Dorinda, who starred on seasons 7-12 of RHONY, admits that she’s not naive and is “not going to live in a fantasy and say” that working on reality TV is “always perfect.”
However, the 55-year-old says she has “always had a positive ongoing relationship with my production people.”
As AllAboutTRH previously reported, in February, Leah McSweeney filed a lawsuit against Bravo and Andy Cohen for intentionally preying on her alcohol addiction so they could hit the ratings jackpot.
The lawsuit claims that Bravo, Shed Media, and Andy Cohen “discriminated against, tormented, demoralized, demeaned, harassed and retaliated against Ms. McSweeney because she is a woman with disabilities, such as alcohol use disorder and various mental health disorders, all in the name of selling drama. But being in the business of reality television does not relieve [them] of their obligation to follow employment laws that prohibit the exact type of discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation that Defendants subjected Ms. McSweeney to. Now, Ms. McSweeney seeks justice.”
In her filing, Leah McSweeney also alleged that Andy Cohen “snorts cocaine” with Housewives.
Andy’s attorneys have denied the Real Housewives of New York alum’s allegations.
Then in March, the WWHL host’s legal team fired off a letter demanding Leah McSweeney retract her “baseless and false.” allegations or face going to court
“We demand that you immediately retract and withdraw all allegations relating to Mr. Cohen’s purported ‘cocaine use,’” the legal letter read.
The letter continued, “Mr. Cohen never used cocaine with any cast member on any Real Housewives or with any other Bravo employee. The absence of any reasonable basis to make such allegations is confirmed by your pleading itself.”
Since then, Leah McSweeney’s legal team has teased that there are more lawsuits coming for both Bravo and Real Housewives executive producer.
“There are more lawsuits coming and there are more people who are going to speak out,” McSweeney’s lawyer, Gary Adelman, said in a statement to Us Weekly on Tuesday, March 12. “It doesn’t matter what people say or think — that Andy’s a good guy, or that you should expect to drink, or that you should expect this behavior.”
“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,” the statement read. “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.”
Stay glued to AllAboutTRH for more on this developing story.
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