Andy Cohen Responds To Backlash From Below Deck Reunion & Explains Why He Didn’t Go Harder On Th
Big Daddy is clapping back!
During the two-part Below Deck season seven reunion that concluded this week, fans (and myself included) noticed host Andy Cohen went a little easy on the male members of the crew, after social media had exploded over their misogynist behavior during the entire season.
As a result, Andy decided to do some damage control on his SiriusXM Radio Andy show this week. The reality show producer opened up the phones to fans to hear their comments on how he handled the Below Deck end of season sit-down and addressed the social media backlash, telling listeners:
“You all feel that I failed you. I am sorry for that. I am trying to get to a place where you move forward and people kind of own their behavior. That is my goal… to get people to own their behavior.”
Andy clarified, while he is still an executive producer on all the Housewives shows, he isn't involved in the production of Below Deck at all, meaning he had little behind the scenes information about this season going into the reunion. He also blamed his lackluster performance on having a procedure done on his head earlier that day, which was the reason for wearing that infamous bandaid. Andy explained:
“I was in a lot of pain. We shot for over two hours and I kept saying to the control room full of women, by the way, ‘Hey, you guys. Am I being tough enough on the guys? Like, I want to make sure that I’m being tough enough on the guys.’ And they were like, ‘We’re good. We have enough stuff'. I said to all the producers, ‘You guys, people are reacting so strongly to what’s going on in the misogyny and the whole thing.’ I want to make sure that I represent what everyone is so upset about. And so that’s, I think, part of the reason that I feel bad that I failed people.”
During his radio show, Andy acknowledged the male behavior on the boat was horrible, however, he also called out the women of the show, including Rhylee Gerber for acting like assholes too. So even though he wanted to do the fans justice and hold the men accountable, he also had to do the same for the girls. Andy said:
“The atmosphere of living on a boat with your co-workers who you also occasionally sleep with… it is totally unusual. It’s out of the norm. It brings about horrible behavior [and] there is no HR person on the boat. Everyone kind of behaved like assholes at one point or another and the point of the reunion is for both sides to say what they have to say. So, I just want to say, do I think the guys behaved horribly? Yes, of course. You can’t kiss someone who doesn’t want to be kissed or talk about slapping someone with your dick."
Although he apologized for not going as hard on the boys, Andy did say that the men were apologetic for the behavior, and in his defense, once someone apologizes at a reunion, there's not really anything else to say. The WWHL host went onto say:
“[Ashton] sat there and apologized in a four-minute soliloquy with tears in his eyes, okay? So, typically, what you look for at a reunion is some sort of apology or moving forward. So, after this guy sits there and apologizes for four minutes with tears in his eyes… Yeah, I didn’t beat him with a club after that as I think people would have liked for me to do."
Along with everyone's annoyance with Andy over his performance during this reunion, fans were also outraged when he asked Courtney Skippon if there was still a chance of her hooking up with Brian de Saint Pern following the taping, even though she had spent the entire sit-down explaining how much she hated him. Andy justified his thought process in asking the question by saying:
“We have had Below Deck reunions where people hated each other, horrible things, and then they all go out that night and they get drunk and then they will … I come into work the next day and they’re like, ‘Guess who hooked up last night,’ I’m like, ‘You’re kidding me. How is that possible?’ So, that’s why I asked that question. Do I wish I had not have asked it? Of course, I understand how it came off."
Well, there you go. Andy sounding off on this reunion is probably the last time any of us will have to hear about this season of Below Deck and thank fuck because I have had enough of this show to last me a lifetime, or at least until next season...
Thoughts? Sound off in the comments!
