‘WWHL’ Host Andy Cohen Reacts To News He Is Replacing Kathy Griffin

It looks like best friends, Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, will be ringing in the New Year together. The “Watch What Happens Live” host is set to join his pal in Times Square in New York City to co-host CNN’s New Year’s Eve celebration.

On Wednesday, Cohen reacted to the exciting news that he will be taking on the holiday hosting gig. “The news is out! I’m co-hosting New Year’s Eve on CNN with @andersoncooper and I could not be more excited!” he tweeted.

Since 2007, Kathy Griffin had previously hosted alongside Copper, but was fired in May after she posed in a photo, holding a bloodied image of an apparently beheaded President Donald Trump.

Following Griffin’s controversial picture, Cooper revealed that he did not support his co-worker’s actions. “For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate,” he tweeted.

Griffin apologized for her actions but it was not enough to save her job at CNN. “Kathy totally misjudged this. She truly believed that Anderson would stick up for her. She considered him a friend. While she has nobody to blame but herself, she feels somehow betrayed,” a source told Page Six at the time.

Insiders close to CNN believed that Cooper would use Griffin’s termination as an opportunity to hire Cohen for the NYE’s broadcast. “Anderson wants Andy to co-host with him. They are already doing a multi-city tour together, they are besties and have a great rapport,” a source stated.

Cooper and Anderson, who have been friends for years, initially met ahead of a blind date that never happened. The two were supposed to get together for a romantic evening in the early ‘90s, but spoke on the phone first. The conversation helped Cooper determine that he did not want to date Cohen.

During an appearance on Cohen’s show, “Watch What Happens Live,” Cooper shared their origin story. “Andy and I were first set up on a blind date, which never happened because we had a phone call, and after two minutes, I said, ‘I’m not dating this guy,’” he explained.

Cooper revealed that he was immediately turned off by Cohen, who broke his one cardinal rule.

“He mentioned my mom within the first four sentences of meeting me,” Cooper said, referring to his mother, famous socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, who is a descendant of railroad tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Despite his lack of attraction to Cohen, the two eventually became good friends because they saw each other at many social events due to their mutual friends in Los Angeles. “We started traveling together with a group of friends who traveled together. Really the way we became friends is he and I have been around the world and back together. We’ve really been around the world together,” Cohen told Entertainment Weekly in 2015.

With a history of traveling the world together, ringing in the new year together will be a piece of cake for the longtime friends. “Andy is the life of the party wherever he goes, and what bigger party is there than New Year’s Eve? It is going to be a blast,” Cooper said in a statement.

“I’ve been friends with Anderson for twenty-five years. We’ve traveled the world together and performed in 30 plus cities with ‘AC2,’ and it’s all led to this one huge night!” Cohen added.

Anderson and Cohen’s hosting gig of the global celebration will mark the 11th year of CNN’s New Year’s Eve show.

“New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” will air on Sunday, Dec. 31 on CNN.