Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper had something to celebrate while cohosting CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live special — toasting to the end of the previous year’s alcohol ban.
The dynamic duo returned to New York City’s Times Square on Sunday, December 31, to countdown to the new year. At the top of the broadcast, Cohen, 55, revealed that he and Cooper, 56, would once again be imbibing throughout the show.
“Speaking of traditions,” he began, “It’s the top of the hour and so we’ve been here for seven years doing this and for most of those years … at the top of the hour, we typically have a toast.”
When Cooper reluctantly asked whether Cohen was alluding to alcohol, the latter replied, “I guess I’m just wondering, does daddy get his juice?”
Cooper quickly retorted, “Can daddy get his juice responsibly?” before confessing that he didn’t bring anything to drink. Cohen, however, came prepared with his own bottle of tequila. “This is why I’m a really good partner to you,” he teased. “I got it. We’re doing this.”
Cohen reminded viewers that Cooper doesn’t often drink outside of the NYE special, but fans think that’s exactly what makes it so fun. “A giggly / tipsy Anderson Cooper is how every year needs to end,” one social media user tweeted on Sunday, while another added, “Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper wasted beyond belief on national television is the only New Year’s chaos I believe in.”
A third fan joked, “I love that we, as a community, bullied cnn into letting anderson cooper and andy cohen drink on tv,” while celebrating the return of the twosome’s traditional shot-taking.
The pair were barred from drinking during the 2022-2023 broadcast after the Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen host made some controversial comments on air the year before while inebriated.
“If you look behind me, you’ll see Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers performing. … I’m sorry but if you’re watching ABC, you’re watching nothing,” Cohen said during the 2021-2022 special, referring to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest. “We were doused with confetti from fake Journey on ABC. If it’s not Steve Perry, it doesn’t count! You get it? It’s not Journey! It’s propaganda! It’s propaganda! It’s not Journey! It’s not Journey! No, that was not Journey. Steve Perry is Journey.”
Cohen also slammed New York City’s then-mayor, Bill de Blasio. “Watching Mayor de Blasio do his victory lap dance after four years of the crappiest term as the mayor of New York — the only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is what a horrible mayor he has been,” he told the audience. “So sayonara sucka.”
Following the ordeal, Cohen expressed remorse for his statements about Seacrest, 49. “The only thing that I regret saying, the only thing is that I slammed the ABC broadcast and I really like Ryan Seacrest and he’s a great guy,” he noted on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live in January 2022. “And I really regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it.”
The two later put rumors of a feud to rest when Cohen called into “On Air With Ryan Seacrest” in January. “I don’t like fighting with people,” Cohen said, to which Seacrest replied, “Well, we’re not [fighting]. We’re not.”
Amid the drama, CNN set a mandate for the 2022-2023 broadcast that Cohen and Cooper refrain from drinking. “We can’t drink, alright! We can’t drink,” Cohen said during the special. “But it’s fine. It’s totally cool.”
Cooper then chimed in: “Are you going to be able to make it?”
“That’s the question. We will see! Do I have a pocket full of edibles? I do. Will I take them? I don’t think so,” Cohen responded. “I don’t know, it’s a long night. This is a telethon with no disease, do you understand? We’re here all night passing time.”
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Leading up to the 2023-2024 show, Cohen pleaded with the network to allow him and Cooper to imbibe again.
“Hopefully, I will not be sneaking it,” he told E! News in November. “I haven’t heard anything yet, but come on, they need to let us drink. It’s New Year’s Eve. That didn’t go well last year in terms of viewer happiness about us drinking. People really cared and I hope CNN gives the people what they want.”
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