Ex-'RHONY' Star Leah McSweeney Accuses Bravo of 'Colluding' With Ramona Singer to 'Out' Her Bipolar Diagnosis
Feb. 28 2024, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Leah McSweeney isn't just hurling allegations against Bravo daddy Andy Cohen. McSweeney also slammed her former Real Housewives of New York costar Ramona Singer, claiming Bravo producers "colluded" with the outspoken pocket rocket to "out" her bipolar diagnosis and "falsely" spread rumors that she "abused" her medication with alcohol.
In McSweeney's lawsuit obtained by RadarOnline.com, Leah said the ordeal caused her "extreme anxiety and depression."
The ex-Bravo star used the ordeal with Singer to back up her accusations that she had to be institutionalized in a psychiatric facility because of the alleged hostile work environment on RHONY.
As this outlet reported, McSweeney filed a federal lawsuit against Cohen, Warner Bros Discovery, Shed Media, Bravo Media, and NBCUniversal earlier this week. While Singer is mentioned in the suit, she is not being sued.
According to McSweeney, "Upon information and belief, Defendants colluded with fellow RHONY cast member, Ramona Singer ('Singer'), to 'out' Ms. McSweeney’s confidential bipolar disorder diagnosis before Ms. McSweeney disclosed it publicly."
She also claimed as a result of the producer's alleged "plan," Singer "maliciously rumored to other cast members that Ms. McSweeney suffered from bipolar disorder," and that Ramona didn't stop there.
"Singer stated that Ms. McSweeney’s behavior while drinking could be attributed to both Ms. McSweeney’s bipolar diagnosis and falsely posited that Ms. McSweeney abused her bipolar prescription medication by combining that prescription with alcohol," the lawsuit read.
Leah said she complained about Singer "outing" her mental health diagnosis, which she alleged "caused her to suffer extreme anxiety and depression, thereby exacerbating her disclosed mental health disabilities." She claimed that instead of helping, producers allegedly "shamed" and "gaslit" her.
"Defendant Producers had a duty to accommodate Ms. McSweeney or engage in an interactive process with Ms. McSweeney to develop a mutually agreed upon accommodation, but Defendant Producers again failed to do so," she alleged in the suit.
"Instead Defendant Producers shamed Ms. McSweeney for complaining of depression and anxiety as a direct result of Singer’s actions. Defendant Producers even attempted to gaslight Ms. McSweeney into falsely believing that her worsened mental health symptoms did not exist," McSweeney continued.
RadarOnline.com has reached out to Singer's rep and NBCUniversal for comment.
We told you — McSweeney, who appeared in two seasons of RHONY and Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, claimed that producers “pressured” her to drink despite knowing about her alcohol addiction and failed to get her help when she spiraled in front of their eyes.
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She also claimed she faced retaliation and was not recast on RHONY due to her “disability, including [Sweeney’s] failure to relapse into her alcohol use disorder.”
The reality star alleged the “hostile work environment," which "significantly altered the terms of her employment," reportedly "caused [Sweeney] to suffer suicidal ideations, caused [Sweeney] to become institutionalized in a psychiatric facility and has continued to cause ongoing mental pain and suffering.”
McSweeney dropped a bombshell accusation against Cohen, too, claiming that he "favors Housewives that ‘play ball’ with his proclivity for substance abuse and discriminates against the sober Housewives that, because of their substance use disorders, cannot.”
She alleged that Cohen did drugs with Bravolebrities and “tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment and edits.”
Cohen denied the allegations, with a spokesperson telling RadarOnline.com, “The claims against Andy are totally false.”