Andy Cohen dominated New Year’s Eve television headlines with his drunken hosting stint on CNN’s “Live From Times Square” special alongside Anderson Cooper. Cohen went viral for dissing outgoing New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, saying, “The only thing that the Democrats and the Republicans can agree on is what a horrible mayor he has been, so sayonara, sucka! 2022! It’s a new year.” Cohen appeared on “The Howard Stern Show” this week and stood defiant when asked about his tipsy hosting duties. A report from The Daily Mail claimed staffers were left “embarrassed and angry” by Cohen.

“I will not be shamed for having fun on New Year’s Eve,” Cohen told Howard Stern. “That’s why I’m there. That’s why they bring me there.”

Cohen reminded listeners that his drunken antics made up only a small portion of the four-hour-plus “Live From Times Square” special, adding, “It’s a four-and-a-half-hour show. The booze started kicking in around 11:30. So everyone is focusing on kind of the last 45 minutes or hour that we were on the air. I kicked into high gear with 45 minutes left. So we had done 15 interviews by that point. I won’t be shamed by it. I had a blast. Anderson had a blast. We left, we were like, ‘That was fun, what a fun New Year’s Eve.’ No apologies for my drinking on New Year’s Eve. None.”

Earlier this week, Cohen said he had only one regret about his hosting and that was making fun of Ryan Seacrest on national television. During the “Live From Times Square” special, Cohen spotted Seacrest’s ABC broadcast station from afar and told viewers, “There’s a bunch of smoke coming from Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers that are performing behind us. If you’ve been watching ABC tonight, you’ve seen nothing, I’m sorry.”

“The only thing that I regret saying, the only thing, is that I slammed the ABC broadcast,” Cohen said on his “Radio Andy” show. “I really like Ryan Seacrest, and he’s a great guy. I really regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it.”

CNN has already announced Cohen and Anderson will return for the network’s “Live From Times Square” special at the end of 2022 to ring in the new year.

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