One month ago, new CNN boss Chris Licht declared that the network’s hosts may no longer get drunk on New Year’s Eve.
The news came as a shock to everyone given CNN’s history of allowing its hosts to get rip-roaring drunk during their New Year’s Eve Times Square special.
While plenty of hosts were affected, none were quite as affected as CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, both of whom are notorious for consuming shots of hard liquor — namely Tequila — during the network’s annual New Year’s Eve special.
Sadly, this year they were relegated to consuming “mystery shots” of pickle juice and apple cider vinegar instead, much to their disgusted chagrin.
Watch what happened as they took a shot of the latter below:
“What could that be!?” Cohen asked with a look of disgust plastered on his face.
“Sock or shoes?! Are we drinking the squeezed juice of a leather shoe!?” Cooper asked, with an even more pronounced look of revulsion on his face.
That’s when Cohen suddenly snapped and threw his shot glass on the floor.
“I need tequila! Honestly!” he yelled.
Don’t we all?
Later during the evening, actor Kevin Hart consumed a real shot on their behalf after griping about the hosts’ unusual sobriety.
“I can’t believe this right now! I’m watching you guys, and you are completely sober! This is disappointing. You’re sober. What is happening? What is happening right now?” he said, prompting laughter from Cooper and Cohen.
“I mean, you guys can’t say anything about it, but I can! I can say things about it! This is absolute bulls–t! I don’t like it one bit, okay? Umma say what you wanna say. This is absolute horsesh–t. I can’t believe this,” he added.
Watch:
Some CNN fans may have been in disbelief as well, given as Cohen had — in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve — made it sound like he intended to break Licht’s rule.
Indeed, in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine published Wednesday, he claimed only CNN “correspondents” wouldn’t be drinking — and that only he and Cooper would.
“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.
“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,” he added.
In fairness, Cohen did eventually backtrack, telling Page Six on Thursday, “We aren’t drinking, but we’re going to have a BLAST.”
The only good news is that his sobriety this year kept the network’s end-of-year festivities scandal-free — unlike last year.
Last year Cohen sparked controversy by talking smack about ABC’s “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” program, which has been hosted by Ryan Seacrest since 2006.
“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,” he said.
Seacrest finally responded just this week by voicing his support for CNN’s alcohol ban — surprise, surprise — during an Entertainment Weekly interview.
“I don’t advocate drinking when one is on the air. I don’t know how that started as a tradition, but it’s probably a good idea [to scale back], CNN. There’s some pretty respectable people or at least one, right? I think there’s a serious journalist and then a friend of mine who has a lot of fun, but it’s probably a good idea. Although the viewers probably wish they would drink more,” he said.
“But I think they had something to say about my show at one point, which was I’m sure from the alcohol because, I don’t think they would say what they said about our performers if they weren’t drinking. But, you know, I think our show’s a bigger, broader show and we will not drink until 1:05 in the morning. Although, I might send them some Casa Dragones Tequila just to tempt them while they’re on the air,” he added.
Notice what he said about “someone” saying thing about his “show at one point.” That someone was no doubt Cohen.
FYI, for what it’s worth, Cohen already apologized for his trash-talking. He did so only days after last year’s New Year’s Eve celebration.
“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. And I really regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it,” he said during the Jan. 3rd, 2022 edition of his SiriusXM show, “Andy Cohen Live.”
During last year’s celebration, Cohen also obliterated then-outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Watch:
.@Andy‘s incredible, drunken rant about @BilldeBlasio! pic.twitter.com/sFUcQUcJNp
— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) January 1, 2022
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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