Fans who enjoy watching Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen get drunk and drunk on CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live” will have to brace themselves for a more sober affair this year.
“We don’t drink, but we’re going to have a blast,” Cohen told Page Six this week after much speculation that the hosts would be drunk this year.
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In November, reports surfaced that CNN’s new president and chief executive, Chris Licht, would ban correspondents and anchors from drinking on New Year’s Eve. But Cohen said at the time that the ban did not apply to him and his co-host, noting, “I think people like to see me try Anderson, and I will be.”
Cohen doubled down in a Rolling Stone article published Wednesday, telling the magazine that only “correspondents” were banned from drinking and that he and Cooper would “celebrate even more on their behalf.”
But he walked back that claim in his interview with Page Six, saying he made the comments to Rolling Stone a month ago. The Washington Post also confirmed that the ban extends to Cooper and Cohen, citing “a network source.”
Last year, Cohen made headlines for a series of alcohol-fueled moments, including a witty rant against former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The next day, Cohen tweeted that he was “overserved.”
