Andy Cohen may be welcomed with open arms in his Bravo Universe…but he recently learned that there’s one place where he won’t receive a warm welcome. Unfortunately for him, Black people everywhere overwhelmingly agree. Don’t worry…we’ll explain!
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During Sunday’s episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” Cohen welcomed a handful of guests, including “Real Housewives of Potomac” star Stacey Rusch and “The Smith Sisters Live” hosts Lauren, Rachel and Mariah Smith. The sisters are former direct employees of Cohen and host their podcast on his SiriusXM channel, “Radio Andy.” Per usual, the ladies gave their hot takes from the prior week’s slew of shows, but throughout the episode, the Smith sisters and Cohen reminisced about their time working together.
During one moment, the sisters praised Cohen for being the “perfect boss” and a man of the people.” That’s when Cohen decided to playfully (but lowkey seriously) ask them if he was invited to the cookout then due to how cool he assumed they all were.
The short answer was a loud, unanimous, and stern “No!” But you’ve got to see it for yourself below.
Eventually the Smith sisters said that Cohen could come as a potential “celebrity guest,” but he wasn’t pleased with that option as it felt like a “fine print” way for him to be included but not a legitimate one.
But that’s not what we need to talk about here! What we need to talk about is the fact that there’s probably never been a collective and emphatic “no” quite like this. The Black community has been feeling mighty gracious of late when it comes to these “cookout” invitations. Earlier this year, we decided to scooch over to make room for “ginger” or red-headed white folks because we empathized with their plight of feeling “othered.”
Prior to that, we’ve included a handful of non-problematic, non-melanated folks to come over and grab a plate (looking at you Adele, Bobby Caldwell, Tom Holland, etc.) simply because they seem cool and safe enough to come.
But enough is enough! When it comes to Cohen specifically, his proximity to our favorite “Housewives” and generally appreciated status cannot be reason enough for yet another white person to infiltrate this figurative Black space. Yes, we know he’s the mastermind behind the popular franchise and without him we may not have gotten pop culture royalty like Nene Leakes, Karen Huger, and Candiace Dillard-Bassett on our screens.
But although you, white person, might be close to Black people and may even have a love and respect for Black culture, that does not automatically make you a guaranteed attendee to this cookout! What’s more is that the number one rule about the cookout is that you never ask to be invited. An invitation is simply extended to you by the community.
Look, some things deserve to be sacred, some things deserve to be for us, by us. And while yes, there may be some white faces already there–just like the Los Angeles population count, it’s one face too many. The doors to the cookout need to be closed to white people from here on out and sadly for you Andy Cohen, you’re the first person on that rejection list.
But if you thought I was alone in saying this, think again. There are countless Black people online who feel the same way and found joy in his denial.
“I’m sorry but those women not even hesitating to tell Andy Cohen he wasn’t invited to the cookout was hilarious. His face was priceless,” wrote one user on X/Twitter.
“Andy being perplexed as to why he is NOT invited to the cookout is hilarious!! In the famous words of @themonaleo ‘You’re not invited to the cookout, But you can watch from the middle of the streets, be the lookout,’” said another.
“Soooo glad they said no!!! We love you, but THE DOOR IS CLOSED,” wrote one user on TikTok.
One other user noted: “I’m glad we’re all on the same page with the exclusivity of the cookout!”
Added another, “I’m 100% team stop inviting ppl to the cookout!”
Straight From 
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