Andy Cohen says he and Anderson Cooper will still drink amid reports of ‘sober’ CNN New Year’s broadcast

Variety reports CNN CEO claimed on-air drinking during New Year’s celebrations impacted network’s ‘respectability’

Andy Cohen has assured fans that he and Anderson Cooper will be drinking during their 2022 New Year’s Eve coverage, and plan to party “harder than ever,” after it was reported that CNN planned to end the alcohol-fueled segments.

On Wednesday, Variety reported that the network was making a change to its annual New Year’s Eve coverage, during which hosts were known for throwing back alcoholic beverages, in an article titled: “CNN Plans to Sober Up Boozy New Year’s Eve Coverage.”

In the article, the outlet said CNN’s coverage of the festive night came up during a town hall discussion on Tuesday between CNN employees and Chris Licht, the company’s chairman and CEO, where Licht told staff that drinking on camera damaged the “respectability” of the network.

However, according to Variety, the announcement did not apply to Cooper, who has hosted New Year’s Eve live since 2002, and Cohen, who joins each year to tipsily host the network’s live coverage from Times Square.

Cohen confirmed that he and Cooper planned to continue the tradition of consuming alcohol while celebrating the night’s festivities during Wednesday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live, where he awarded the episode’s “Jackhole of the Day” prize to the Variety article.

“The article does point out that Anderson and I are still allowed to drink, so we can all say this to my sobriety,” Cohen said, before airing a clip from CNN’s 2021 New Year’s Eve broadcast alongside Cooper, where he had yelled “Sayonara, sucka” into the camera.

Cohen then assured viewers that he and his longtime friend would be partying harder than ever before.

“I just want you to know, Anderson and I are going to party harder than we’ve ever partied before on New Year’s Eve. Do you understand me?!” the talk-show host screamed, to cheers from the audience.

The Watch What Happens Live host also confirmed that the order from CNN’s CEO did not apply to him and Cooper while speaking to Rolling Stone, where he clarified that “CNN said the correspondents will not be drinking”.

“Anderson and I will be the people partying on CNN [though] we will be partying responsibly,” he said, before adding: “My job is to take Anderson out of his comfort zone [and] my job is to be a party ringleader for everyone watching us on New Year’s Eve, and that is what I will continue to do.

“And as a matter of fact, if the correspondents are not drinking this year, I will be partying even harder on their behalf.”