Rest assured, Andy Cohen will still be "going hard" on the CNN New Year's Eve broadcast
While Cohen and his co-host Anderson Cooper are allowed to get tipsy, CNN reporters will not be allowed to partake in drinking according to the new rules
CNN may be taking away our favorite recent holiday tradition of Don Lemon getting increasingly smashed through the network’s New Year’s Eve show, but they can’t stop host Andy Cohen from partying even harder for him.
As one half of CNN’s silver-haired Times Square hosts (along with his close pal Anderson Cooper), Cohen reacted to CNN CEO Chris Licht’s new mandate of correspondents and anchors not drinking during their New Year’s Eve coverage, reassuring viewers that he would be sending out 2022 in classic-buzzed fashion.
“I think New Year’s Eve is a night to go hard, and I will be going hard on New Year’s Eve,” told the Watch What Happens Live host to Yahoo Life.
“I think that part of the ‘play at home’ factor of New Year’s Eve is, I think people enjoy watching me try to get Anderson plastered, and I will be,” added Cohen. “The announcement yesterday was that CNN doesn’t want their correspondents drinking on New Year’s Eve. I think that people don’t understand. I will be drinking on New Year’s Eve—just rest assured of that.”
This is the news we needed to hear, as Anderson and Cohen’s giggling, tequila shot-taking shenanigans on the live broadcast are something to look forward to every year (2021's musings on Pete Davidson with the recently passed Leslie Jordan remains a highlight). Yet, we’ll greatly miss seeing usually serious reporters like Lemon let loose once a year, showing that they too can get just as messy as everyone else while counting down the clock till midnight. ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest just can’t compete with that type of entertainment!