The outspoken host told Howard Stern that he refuses to 'be shamed for having fun.'
Andy Cohen won't be apologizing any time soon. The outspoken TV and radio personality is taking a stand against critics who have slammed him for having a bit too much to drink while hosting CNN's New Year's Eve show, alongside his close friend Anderson Cooper.
The Watch What Happens Live! host called in to Howard Stern's SiriusXM show on Tuesday and declared, "I will not be shamed for having fun on New Year's Eve. That's why I'm there. That's why they bring me there."
During the broadcast, Cohen and Cooper downed shots and sipped on cocktails throughout the lengthy broadcast. The imbibing seemingly led Cohen to go on a controversial rant against New York City's outgoing mayor, Bill de Blasio.
However, as far as Cohen is concerned, the people upset about his behavior on the show are really only paying attention to a small part of the complete picture.
"It's a four-and-a-half hour show. The booze started kicking in around 11:30. So everyone's focusing on kind of the last 45 min or hour we were on the air," Cohen told Stern. "It kicked into high gear with 45 minutes left. We'd done 15 interviews before that point! And I won't be shamed for it."
"I had a blast. Anderson had a blast. We left and we were like 'That was fun! What a fun New Year's Eve,'" the host recalled. "There will be no apologies for drinking on New Year's Eve. None."
While Cohen is standing firm behind his performance on the live broadcast, he did admit on Monday to having a regret about one of the things he said.
On Monday's episode of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, the 53-year-old TV personality revealed he felt bad about his on-air criticism of ABC's competing New Year's Eve show, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and its host, Ryan Seacrest.
"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," Cohen said. "And I really regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it."
John Hill, Cohen's co-host, noted that "the headline was what sucked" about Cohen's Seacrest comments, noting that, "I thought in the moment you understood the context."
"Exactly, that's the problem. Yeah," Cohen agreed. "The headlines about Ryan Seacrest are all like I trash Ryan Seacrest. I hope he hears the clip."
As for tabloid reports that Cohen was fired from CNN's next New Year's Eve special, a network spokesperson tells ET in a statement, "I can confirm that Andy Cohen will be back to co-host NYE on CNN next year."
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