News Andy Cohen says he understands why Kathy Griffin hates him By Maureen Lee Lenker Maureen Lee Lenker Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight, is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen. EW's editorial guidelines Published on May 16, 2018 06:00PM EDT Photo: Mark Davis/Bravo/NBCU/Getty Images Andy Cohen says he totally understands why Kathy Griffin hates him, and that he’s happy to be the subject of her anger if it gives her “peace.” The Bravo host joined shock jock Howard Stern on his SiriusXM show Wednesday and opened up about the purported feud with the comedian, which supposedly escalated after Cohen replaced Griffin on CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live, following Griffin’s dismissal after she posed with a fake decapitated head made in the likeness of President Trump. Cohen began by addressing how well Griffin has bounced back from the scandal, saying, “She’s selling out all these venues. She loves to have a comeback; she loves publicity. Everything’s good for her.” He then directly addressed the New Year’s Eve gig and their purported feud. “As you put it that way, I got the job that she had on CNN,” Cohen said. “I’m on Bravo all these hours. I get it. So, hate me. I’ll be that guy for you. If it makes you happy and gives you peace. I’m just not going to take it on myself. I’m at peace. I’m a lover, not a fighter.” The falling out began in the wake of the scandal surrounding Griffin’s controversial photograph: When TMZ asked Cohen about replacing Griffin on CNN, Cohen replied, “Who? I don’t know her.” Cohen appeared to be referencing a similar remark Mariah Carey once made about Jennifer Lopez, but it provoked outrage on Griffin’s part. “Was my boss for 10 years. Treated me like a dog. Deeply misogynistic,” Griffin tweeted in response to the TMZ video. It didn’t end there. The next day, Griffin released a 17-minute YouTube video, “Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story,” in which she called out both Cohen and TMZ founder Harvey Levin, saying they “just live to take women down” and alleging that Cohen invited her to do cocaine before appearances on Watch What Happens Live. Cohen denied the allegations, tweeting, “I am completely stunned by this story. It is 100% false and totally made up.”