It was a sober affair for Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper this New Year’s Eve as they presented CNN‘s annual celebrations live from Times Square in New York City, and their guests had something to say about it.
In November 2022, CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht announced the network would be scaling back the on-air drinking, meaning correspondents and anchors were required to stay sober during the New Year’s broadcast. This came after a controversial moment during the 2021 broadcast when Cohen referred to Ryan Seacrest and the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve crew as a “group of losers.”
For this year’s event, Cohen and Cooper couldn’t drink alcohol until after midnight, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Several special guests popped in throughout the broadcast, many of them commenting on the sober occasion and cracking jokes at Cohen and Cooper’s expense.
Full House alum John Stamos called into the show and recalled his time hosting Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve with Heather Locklear in 1988. Stamos confessed to not remembering much of the occasion because they were drinking, “unlike you guys,” he said (via THR).
“I’m glad you’re not drinking. I haven’t had a drink in seven and a half years,” he continued. “But you’re funnier when you drink.”
Emmy-nominated comedian and actress Amy Sedaris also stopped by to poke fun at the sober hosts. The Book of Boba Fett star wondered what Cohen and Cooper were on if they weren’t drinking, coming up with funny drug-sounding names like “reindeer dust,” “scorpion seed,” “thunder clap” and “apple jack diablo powder” (via THR).
Finally, Kevin Hart, who appeared live from Las Vegas ahead of his stand-up special Reality Check: New Year’s Eve Experience, took a shot in solidarity with the CNN hosts.
“Imma do what you can’t,” the comedian said. “Imma take a shot because you guys have been hoodwinked. I can’t believe you. I can’t believe CNN telling you guys not to go and cut loose in such a good, true fashion. That’s perfect TV.”
Hart joked he was “pissed” at CNN for making Cohen and Cooper perform sober, adding, “Here’s a shot for what you’re supposed to do — from me to you guys.”
He then took a more serious approach, saying, “You guys are who you are. You shined on this platform because they allowed you to be you. Don’t take that away. You celebrate that, and you toast to that, and you amplify it. That’s what good TV is. That’s why good TV works.”
