CNN Has Officially Banned Alcohol During New Year’s Eve Broadcast After Andy Cohen was ‘Overserved’

The years-long tradition of watching CNN anchors get tipsy during the New Year’s Eve countdown seems to be coming to a halt. Variety reports that the network’s chairman and CEO, Chris Licht, doesn’t approve of drinking on-air. In a town hall between Licht and CNN staffers last month, the CEO mentioned that on-camera drinking had a negative effect on the network’s “respectability.”

Videos by Rare

Andy Cohen Was “Overserved” Last New Year’s Eve

Traditionally, viewers have watched anchors like Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen take shots during New Year’s Eve primetime TV hours. But last year, Cohen was “overserved” and said some tactless things about ABC’s Ryan Seacrest.

“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,” Cohen said last year.

“The only thing that I regret saying, the only thing is that I slammed the ABC broadcast,” Cohen said on his SiriusXM show Radio Andy“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.”

Seacrest spoke with Entertainment Weekly about CNN’s plans to ban alcohol and said it was “probably a good idea.” He said that journalists at ABC aren’t going to have any drinks until after 1 am.

“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,” Seacrest said. “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.”

Seacrest added that he “might send [CNN] some Casa Dragones Tequila just to tempt them while they’re on the air.”

Despite the CNN Alcohol Ban, Cohen Still Intends to Feed Cooper Shots

Despite last year’s faux pas, Andy Cohen has declared that he still has intentions to drink on TV. It’s not clear how these plans align with Chris Licht’s new rules.

“I think people enjoy seeing me feed Anderson shots and that’s on the menu,” Cohen told People.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t get “overserved” again this New Year’s Eve.

Read More: Andy Cohen Shares Adorable Photos of 3-Month-Old Daughter Lucy

What do you think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Disney Officially Issues Behavior Warning as Fights Increase on Park Grounds

McDonald’s Launches New McBaguette in France in Honor of Netflix Series