It’s the “Real Housewives of The Southern District!”
The judge in Leah McSweeney’s case against Andy Cohen and Bravo gave the network’s lawyers a fiery rebuke worthy of a reunion show hosted by Cohen himself.
The former “Real Housewives of New York City” star claimed in a 2024 lawsuit that its producers preyed on her alcohol addiction, attempting to get her to fall off the wagon because they believed she’d draw better ratings if she were drunk.
After going several rounds in Manhattan’s District Court, Bravo’s lawyers asked Judge Lewis Liman to move the case to arbitration, which would force the two sides to hash out their differences in private.
But Liman clapped back with some judicial shade that would have made the Countess proud!
He ruled Monday, essentially, that the attorneys had tried for a flashy case-ending maneuver in court, “and it was not until after they had taken that gambit and lost, and after they confronted what might have appeared to be the daunting specter of civil discovery in federal court, that they changed course….”
In his decision, Liman added a quote, saying, “‘Arbitration is not a fallback position. It is not a second bite at the apple.’” “Rather,” he said, “a party with a claim to arbitration faces a binary choice: litigation or arbitration. One ‘cannot have it both ways.’”
Yas Queen! Sorry. Yas Your Honor.
The case will remain in open court in the Southern District.
The judge had previously dismissed McSweeney’s claim that she was discriminated against as a recovering alcoholic when producers wanted her to drink, ruling that the producers had a First Amendment right to make the show they wanted, even if that meant they wanted all their cast members to drink.
But he allowed her to proceed with her complaint about how producers encouraged her to drink, or, as she put it, her claim that they “directly coerced and harassed [her] based on her [addiction].”
Bravo and McSweeney’s lawyers are in the middle of requesting private documents and communication related to the case from each other.
Cohen has denied any wrongdoing.
Reps for Bravo didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.
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