Kelly Ripa Hits Back at Ryan Seacrest’s Claim Andy Cohen Didn’t Acknowledge Him on New Year’s Eve

Ryan Seacrest accused Andy Cohen of ignoring him while they hosted competing New Year’s Eve shows Saturday night during Tuesday’s episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan. Kelly Ripa disputed this, insisting that the Bravo star was trying to get Seacrest’s attention. Seacrest hosted ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, while Cohen joined Anderson Cooper to host CNN’s broadcast from Times Square.

“It was funny because my big stage was right in front of Anderson and Andy. So, when I was not working, I was trying to get their attention,” Seacrest recalled on Live, notes TooFab. “I thought maybe I was in the shot. I just wanted to wave and say, ‘Hi.’”

According to Seacrest’s version of events, Cooper turned around and told Seacrest to “have a good show.” Cohen did not turn around at all, the American Idol host claimed. “That’s not true! He said he was trying to get your attention,” Ripa, who is friends with both Cooper and Cohen, said. Seacrest explained that he just wanted to get Cooper and Cohen to notice that he was behind them and could appear in the background of their shot.

Ripa later said that she and her husband Mark Consuelos spent New Year’s Eve swapping between the two broadcasts to make sure she could see all of her friends. “Oddly enough, usually ABC and CNN go to commercials at the same time and this year they did not, which was enormously helpful. Very helpful. Thank you. You got my notes from last year,” she said.

During CNN’s 2021/2022 New Year’s Eve broadcast, Cohen took a swipe at Seacrest’s show. He told viewers that smoke behind him and Cooper came from “Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers that are performing behind us.” It was part of an unscripted, drunk rant Cohen went on. The Watch What Happens Live host later said on his SiriusXM show that he regretted his comment about Seacrest, saying he was “just stupid and drunk and feeling it.”

That incident, and others involving drunk correspondents on air, reportedly led to CNN banning its journalists from drinking during the New Year’s Eve broadcast. It was an idea that Seacrest endorsed. “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 told Entertainment Weekly. “Although the viewers probably wish they would drink more.”

In November, Cohen told PopCulture.com the no-drinking rule did not apply to him. Still, Cooper and Cohen had fun with being “banned” from drinking alcohol during the 2022-2023 broadcast. They took shots of non-alcoholic “mystery drinks” and the two had to guess what they were drinking.