Andy Cohen called out Lisa Rinna for literally burning his memoir The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up in her fireplace.
“You are so extra that you burned the freaking book,” Cohen, 57, quipped during an interview with Rinna, 62, on the Wednesday, February 25, episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
The drama between the WWHL host and the Traitors star dates back to the publication of Cohen’s 2023 memoir, in which he revealed that Rinna once texted him “after midnight saying she’s leaving” The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2023. Cohen published that initial text and a followup where Rinna allegedly asked “if there was a path forward” to continue on RHOBH from one week later. (Rinna ultimately left the Bravo series after season 12.)
In her new memoir You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It, Rinna confirmed that she was initially furious about Cohen publishing her late-night texts.
“When anyone gives you a heads-up that you’re in their book, you know you’re f***ed,” Rinna wrote. “He included my personal text messages. It was so shady, so Andy, so Bravo, so unnecessary. After I read it, I was so mad, I threw his book in my fireplace and watched it burn gleefully.”
As they broke down the controversy on Wednesday’s edition of Watch What Happens Live, Cohen confirmed that he apologized directly to Rinna when they recently met up at the Traitors season 4 reunion. (Cohen hosts The Traitors’ end-of-season cast reunion specials.)
“You write in the book about … my publishing a couple of text messages that really pissed you off. Text messages from you that I put in my book Daddy Diaries pissed you off so much that you burned my book in your fireplace,” Cohen explained.
He went on, “I apologize for publishing those texts. … I’ve had that done to me and I didn’t like it. I had all these reasons for doing it and when I really thought about it, I was like, ‘Oh wait, I gotta apologize.’ So, I’m sorry!”
“You apologized in that moment and it meant the world,” Rinna replied.
Cohen’s biggest question was whether his Daddy Diaries book burned “easily” when Rinna tossed it into her fireplace.
“It did,” she insisted. “It was so beautiful to watch your book go up in flames! Andy, really, it’s an honor that I would burn your book. It’s kind of an honor.”
The two also touched on where they stand after Rinna’s somewhat contentious exit from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Cohen said it was “very clear” to him that Rinna still has “a very complicated relationship” with both him and the Housewives franchise.
“What I realized is that you showed up for me on two of the most important days of my life,” Cohen pointed out.
The Watch What Happens Live host mentioned Rinna’s iconic dancing at his baby shower in 2019, in addition to her giving a speech during his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in February 2022. The second occasion occurred shortly after the death of Rinna’s mom Lois and on the heels of her infamous Aspen, Colorado, blowout with Kathy Hilton on the set of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
“I just want to thank you. You showed up for me on two very important days for me and that is not lost on me,” Cohen said. “I really appreciate that and I’ll never forget it.”
Rinna assured Cohen, “It was my absolute pleasure.”
Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen airs on Bravo Sundays through Thursdays. New episodes are available the next day on Peacock.
