Leah McSweeney files new court papers against Andy Cohen, claiming he tried to bully her into silence, have her blackballed

Leah McSweeney is going after Andy Cohen in court — again.

Back in February, the former “Real Housewives of New York City” star filed a lawsuit claiming the Bravo bigwig, and other top producers, had deviously and callously attempted to exploit her struggle with alcohol to drive up ratings for the reality show.

She’s still pursuing that case. But she’s now added new claims to the same suit, all about the way that Cohen responded to her suit when it first came out.

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An amended suit filed in New York on Tuesday claims that when she first filed her legal claims, Cohen “retaliated” by having his lawyers senselessly threaten her in public, tear her apart in the press and try to get her blackballed by the entertainment business — all in a calculated attempt to scare her, and any other Bravo stars who might dare speak up against him, into silence.

McSweeney — who starred in two seasons of “RHONY” in 2020 and 2021 on Bravo, as well as a season of “Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip” on sister streamer Peacock in 2023 — claimed in the February suit that Cohen, production company Shed Media, and the networks had seen her drinking problem as potential drama generator and set out to cash in on it.

The suit claimed producers had ratings successes in earlier seasons when cast members became unstable and volatile, and — because she is a recovering alcoholic with a history of mental health difficulties — they believed they could replicate that success by manipulating McSweeney and pushing her to drink.

Her suit also claimed that Cohen had done cocaine with some of the “Housewives” stars and given them special professional favors.

He has strenuously denied all the claims , and Bravo says a third-party investigation has cleared him of wrongdoing.

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Cohen — who is an executive producer on both shows, as well as all the other “Real Housewives” shows — had an usual response to the initial filing.

Instead of simply denying the claims (which he also did), his lawyer drafted a letter a few days later — which, according to McSweeney’s suit, was leaked to the press, including Page Six, for maximum impact — claiming that McSweeney’s claims were libel against him and demanding that she withdraw them, or else he’d sue her for damages.

The thing is, any paralegal or cub reporter in America knows that the law explicitly allows anyone to claim anything they want in a court filing — whether its true, false, malicious or otherwise — without fear of being sued for libel. (Whether they can prove those claims in court is another question entirely).

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McSweeney’s amended suit claims that Cohen’s legal team perhaps employed their strategy because they bet that not everyone knows those rules — and they hoped that McSweeney and her “Housewives” colleagues could be scared into backing off, or staying quiet, if they could be made to believe they’d face a libel suit for speaking up.

To put it another way, the suit claims Cohen’s fiery letter was intended to “intimidate Ms. McSweeney out of further pursuing” her lawsuit, and also to “maliciously” discourage “Housewives” stars and anyone else Cohen employs from “objecting” to similar behavior, according to the papers.

Meanwhile, says the suit, Cohen hoped his lawyer’s statement would harm McSweeney’s “reputation in the entertainment industry, thereby negatively affecting [her] prospective employment or business opportunities.”

Cohen, Bravo and Shed have sought to have McSweeney’s original suit dismissed.

Reps for Bravo declined to comment. Reps for Cohen didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.

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