'I will not be shamed,' says Andy Cohen for 'drunken New Year's Eve hosting stint'

As per Variety, 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.

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

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. 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," Cohen said on his 'Radio Andy' show.

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. (ANI)