Omg, Leah McSweeney is suing the ‘rotted’ Real Housewives and Andy Cohen for damages

Leah McSweeney has filed a lawsuit that alleges Andy Cohen and the production team that brings the Real Housewives to life on Bravo is “rotted”, “thrives off drug and alcohol abuse”, and wrecked her sobriety. To top it off, she also claims production on the Real Housewives of New York City told her she was “boring” content when she wasn’t drinking.

Leah is seeking damages both for lost income due to being unable to work and for the emotional, mental and physical suffering she endured due to the allegations. On the filing, Andy Cohen, Bravo Media, NBC Universal, Warner Brothers, and the Discovery production company Shed Media US are named as the defendants. It also includes producers such as John Paparazzo, Lisa Shannon and Darren Ward. Andy has gone on record to deny all allegations put forward by Leah.

According to the filing, Leah’s mission is “to hold defendants accountable for their unlawful employment acts of disability discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation, sex and gender discrimination.” She continued: “Reality always reveals itself: these unconscionable practices will no longer be tolerated; the pattern of discrimination and retaliation must stop—it is time that defendants answer.”

The Real Housewives apparently thrives on drugs and favouritism

According to the case, Andy Cohen has a string of favourite Housewives with whom he loves to snort lines of coke and added that he has a “proclivity for cocaine usage with his employees.” Andy’s “preferred workplace environment, which is fueled with substances and illicit behaviour, permeates every aspect of Defendant Bravo productions.”

It continues. Along with this, the case claims that “Cohen tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favourable treatment and edits.”

High-powered executives are claimed to be given a free pass for sexual predatory behaviour

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The suit also alleges that a member of the senior production team  “routinely sends unsolicited pictures of [their] genitalia to lower-level … production employees,” a fact that is both known and not condemned.

Leah said they took advantage of her documented problem with drinking

Leah accuses the defendants of not making arrangements for her disabilities, such as her “alcohol use disorder” and her “mental health disorder”. Leah’s lawsuit claims that she revealed to the production team that she had relapsed after nine years sober while filming. According to the filing, this was done to “create morbidly salacious reality television”.

Leah claims that by the 12th season filming, she was clean and sober, and had outlined her wish to remain that way. However, the case states that production discriminated against her by “intentionally planning scenarios intended to exacerbate [her] disabilities”.

The case alleges that Leah “felt she had no choice but to comply with whatever defendant producers told her to say regarding her alcohol use disorder.” It also alleges that the “defendants, with the knowledge that Ms McSweeney struggled with alcohol use disorder, colluded with her colleagues to pressure Ms McSweeney to drink, retaliated against her when she wanted to stay sober, and intentionally failed to provide reasonable accommodations that would aid her efforts to stay sober and able to perform.”

Leah claims their lack of support led her to be admitted to a mental health hospital

Along with this, they did not supply any accommodations for her bipolar disorder, which was apparently exacerbated by the show. A particularly harrowing example for Leah was her refusal to let her visit her denying grandmother unless they filmed Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. Following this, the case states that Leah “could not work to support herself nor her daughter. In fact, Ms. McSweeney required around-the-clock care to ensure she would stay alive and would not harm herself.” Afterwards, Leah was apparently offered another Real Housewives gig but declined it.

A rep for Andy has denied all the claims, saying in a statement to multiple outlets that they “are completely false”.

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Photo credit via Leah McSweeney