Leah McSweeney’s claims against Andy Cohen are being heard in court — and the judge has weighed in in an unexpected way.
The former Real Housewives of New York City star appeared in court on Thursday, Nov. 14 after filing a lawsuit against Cohen, Bravo Media, NBC Universal Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, production company Shed Media US and producers John Paparazzo, Lisa Shannon and Darren Ward in February. She claimed she was a victim of discrimination and pressured to drink alcohol despite her sobriety.
“I am the one person in this courtroom that has not watched Real Housewives," Judge Lewis Liman stated during the hearing, which prompted McSweeney's attorney to reply, "You’re gonna see a lot more of this show than you want."
While NBC's lawyers described McSweeney's experience with Cohen and being on the show as standard in reality TV and protected by the First Amendment, McSweeney's side said it was a workplace issue where Bravo was "profiting from showing people crumble."
Her legal team also argued "other Housewives are being intimidated" and men were treated better than women involved in the show.
The lawyer then claimed McSweeney was withheld from attending alcoholics anonymous meetings during the cast trip to Thailand and later fired from the show for speaking up. They also referenced an alleged text from Cohen saying, “Nice boob job, you’re a real Housewife now,” to which McSweeney had replied, “Can’t wait till they see me naked.”
In their rebuttal, NBC’s lawyer argued, “The plaintiff does not get to second-guess or nitpick the creative process,” warning that cases like this could stifle entertainment: “Imagine white people suing Hamilton —it would kill shows like The Sopranos.”
Judge Liman explained that if McSweeney's claims exceeded typical reality TV drama, "workplace laws might still apply." The judge has not yet made a decision on the case.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In May, Cohen slammed McSweeney’s filing, stating that McSweeney's allegations are "threadbare" and should be "dismissed as a matter of law.”
Cohen's file to dismiss the case also said that the reality star's discrimination claims "impermissibly seek to abridge Defendants’ First Amendment rights to tailor and adjust the messages they wish to convey in their creative works, including through cast selection and other creative decisions."
Later, in August, Cohen requested the discovery of new evidence be halted until a ruling was made on the request for dismissal. The letter pointed out that McSweeney "only seeks money damages" and "would not be prejudiced by a stay."
The Housewives aficionado further claimed that both "parties and non-parties would be required to devote substantial time and resources to discovery, despite the likelihood that Plaintiff’s claims would be dismissed."
McSweeney labeled Cohen as the “ringmaster” of the network, responding to his filing by saying it "completely ignores the fact that [her] disability-related claims are premised on [the defendants'] discrimination against [her] throughout the on- and off-camera pendency of her employment."
Cohen's request for dismissal was denied in September. The judge upheld that ruling once again during the Nov. 14 hearing.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(748x355:750x357):format(webp)/andy-cohen-leah-mcsweeney-081324-bee68cb7d1a14617a2cdc01cd65f357f.jpg)
McSweeney’s initial 109-page complaint, obtained by PEOPLE, claimed the defendants established a "rotted" workplace culture where employees were pressured to consume alcohol. She alleged that the defendants failed to maintain a safe working environment and accommodate her disabilities, including "alcohol use disorder" and "mental health disorders,” which she stated she had disclosed to them.
Moreover, McSweeney claimed to have told production she had broken her nine years of sobriety but was sober again when filming for season 12 of the show began in 2019.
The filing alleged they were "intentionally planning scenarios intended to exacerbate [her] disabilities," all in efforts to "create morbidly salacious reality television."
In a later section of the complaint, McSweeney also claimed that Cohen "engages in cocaine use with Housewives and other 'Bravolebrities' that he employs," and has a "proclivity for cocaine usage with his employees."
"Cohen tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment and edits," she claimed. "Cohen intentionally uses cocaine with his employees to further promote a workplace culture that thrives off drug and alcohol abuse, which leads to a failure to accommodate employees who are disabled and attempting to remain substance free."
She also alleged that "Cohen’s preferred workplace environment, which is fueled with substances and illicit behavior, permeates every aspect of Defendant Bravo productions."
