Leah McSweeney Asserts ‘RHONY’ Smear Campaign From NBCU Exec & Andy Cohen In Bid To Save Booze & Drug-Drenched Suit

Whatever else you want to say about Leah McSweeney, it can’t be denied that the Real Housewives of New York alum is definitely persistent when it comes to her inebriation and manipulation lawsuit against reality kingpin Andy Cohen, Bravo and its parent company NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Hoping to fight off a dismissal motion from Cohen and the other defendants on McSweeney’s second amended complaint, the Chaos Theory author and her attorneys are now claiming they’ve unveiled the mastermind behind a grand and coordinated smear campaign against her — and they are naming names.

One name in particular.

“Additional relevant facts concerning Defendants’ alleged retaliatory media campaign and Plaintiff’s resulting professional harm have continued to emerge even after filing of the SAC,” exclaims the May 26 filed memorandum of law in opposition. “Specifically, Plaintiff has obtained additional information concerning the alleged coordination of the public statements by Bravo-affiliated personalities alleged in the SAC, and related public-relations efforts involving Defendant Cohen’s publicist, Jennifer Geisser, who holds a high-level executive role at Defendant NBC.”

Based out of NYC, Geisser is not CAA-repped Andy Cohen’s personal flack.

However, Geisser is the Executive Vice President, Communications & Talent Relations Unscripted for NBCU. In that role, she handles press and more for a lot of the profitable projects the Watch What Happens Live host and Real Housewives franchise chief is involved in at Bravo.

And that’s the point, McSweeny and her team are trying to make to save her already much trimmed down initial filing of February 2024.

In fact, the tossing of Geisser’s name against the wall of Judge Lewis Liman’s federal docket harks back to allegations McSweeney made last year that other Real Housewives were weaponized to take swipes at her and defend Cohen.

After Comcast-owned NBCU and WBD slammed recovering addict McSweeney’s suit of cocaine and booze abuse and “toxic workplace” claims in May 2024 as “threadbare,” an already personal dispute seemed to get a lot more personal.

McSweeney’s retaliation claim survived, but the fashion designer did see portions of her case tossed out in March 2025.

With the matter starting to flatline, McSweeney and her Adelman Matz attorneys went back on the offense. In May 2025, McSweeney suddenly said the likes of RH cast members Heather Dubrow, Kyle Richards, Melissa Gorga, Kandi Burruss, Lisa Vanderpump, Heather Dubrow, and Dorinda Medley had emerged on TV, online and in print to “claim that McSweeney is a liar.” There was no mention of Geisser in the May 2025 filing, but McSweeney did insist Cohen made nearly two dozen Bravo stars “publicly disparage McSweeney’s character, and propensity for  truthfulness, to curry favor with Cohen in the hopes that such favor would propel their entertainment careers.”

As it is, with ups, downs and drama worthy of one of the better Real Housewives seasons, McSweeney and NBCU, Cohen (who has been accused of using and/or supplying coke by others in the past) and the Paramount acquired WBD are on track for trial.

Whether that happens or not depends if Cohen and the corporate giants are successful in their latest attempt to get this case killed, which is up to Judge Liman. The judge, who presided over the over-but-not-over uber-messy Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni dust-up and its own accusations of a smear campaign, could also encourage McSweeney and NBCU, Cohen and WBD to settle — as he did with the warring It Ends With Us stars.

To that, with Geisser employer NBCU declining to comment on the ongoing litigation (as they should), McSweeney and her advisors could be aiming for Comcast to want to cut their losses and legal risks and write her a big fat check to go away. Having taken a lot of unscripted shrapnel the past couple of years over allegations of what goes to make the Reality TV sausage on Bravo, Comcast are not inclined right now to buy their way out of McSweeney’s accusations, sources close to the situation tell me.

Which means, with Cohen, NBCU and WBD and the other defendants having around 30 days to respond to McSweeney’s memo of opposition to their dismissal motion, there’s a RHONY reunion in the making, at least on paper — but it may be more severe than sloppy.