Andy Cohen was rather candid on Tuesday’s episode of “Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi.”
Cohen met the celebrity restaurateur for lunch in Sag Harbor, New York, and not only told him that he doesn’t feel included by his late-night talk show peers — but that James Corden ripped off his “Watch What Happens Live” set for “The Late Late Show.”
“I don’t totally feel part of the group,” said Cohen. “I’ve been in late-night TV for 13 years. ...There was a big photoshoot that Vanity Fair did of all of the late-night talk show hosts, and they left me out of it, but they added James Corden, who wasn’t even on the air yet.”
Cohen added that Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter had even included Trevor Noah, “who had just started,” in the expansive spread — but bore no ill will against the “cute” former “Daily Show” host. As for why he wasn’t included in the shoot, Cohen had some thoughts.
“I’m not a comedian,” Cohen told Bozzi. “I think [‘Watch What Happens Live’] is a different kind of talk show. And I think there’s been a traditional idea of what a late-night talk show is. I would argue that ‘Watch What Happens Live’ redefined what the late-night talk show is.”
“I mean [‘What What Happens Live’] was the first bar on late night, [then] James Corden got a bar. James Corden wound up kind of…” Cohen continued before Bozzi completed his sentence by adding, “Ripping off your set.”
“There you go,” said Cohen.
“So, it is what it is,” he continued. “And that used to be stuff that I was really hypersensitive about. And Frankly, I just feel so grateful now — and I’m not blowing smoke and being bullshit — I’m so glad we’re still going that it’s like, ‘Great, copy my set. Go with God. Inshallah.’”
Corden recently made headlines for allegedly being rude at New York City’s Balthazar restaurant. Owner Keith McNally banned Corden from the establishment, briefly reinstated him as a guest — and then reneged: “I’ve given up on James Corden. For Good.”
Cohen, meanwhile, is set to return as annual co-host for CNN’s boozy “New Year’s Eve Live” alongside Anderson Cooper. While the network’s CEO, Chris Licht, reportedly intends for them to remain sober this year, Cohen has vowed to do no such thing.