'Bring back Kathy!' Twitter left unimpressed by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen's New Year's Eve double act after Bravo host replaced comedian Griffin following her Trump severed head stunt
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen are hosting CNN's New Year's Eve show
Cohen, a Bravo personality, replaced Kathy Griffin, who was fired after her controversial video in which she held a severed head in Donald Trump's likeness
Cooper and Cohen have been friends for 25 years and were even once set up on a blind date - though Cooper declined within one minute of speaking to Cohen
Hosts sported matching turtlenecks for occasion and their rapport left multiple Tweeters pining for Kathy Griffin, who had co-hosted with Cooper since 2007
By Forrest Hanson For Dailymail.com
Published: 21:25 EDT, 31 December 2017 | Updated: 05:09 EDT, 1 January 2018
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen are hosting CNN's coverage of New Year's Eve festivities in New York City.
Cohen, a talk show host on Bravo, was brought in as a replacement for Kathy Griffin, who was dismissed by CNN last spring after posting a video of herself online in which she was holding a mask styled to look like the severed head of President Donald Trump.
The pair sport matching black turtlenecks at their wintry Manhattan filming location.
Cohen, 49, announces at one point during the broadcast that the evening marks 'The first AC and AC, in case you were wondering'.
CNN host Anderson Cooper and Bravo personality Andy Cohen co-hosted CNN's New Year's Eve show, branded 'New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen'
The hosts sported matching black turtlenecks and had a strange rapport, with Cooper barely reacting to outlandish comments from Cohen
Cohen replaced Kathy Griffin, who had co-hosted with Cooper since 2007. They are pictured hosting the celebration ushering in 2017. Griffin was fired by CNN after she posed holding a severed head in the likeness of Donald Trump earlier this year
The men started layering up as the night progressed and were no longer pictured in their matching turtlenecks
Cooper at one point is forced to play catch-up as Cohen rather randomly brings up a photo of a muscled kangaroo. Cohen says the kangaroo is 'the Australian of the year'
Cooper replies: 'It's a little Putin-esque.' This is in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cohen replies: 'I was thinking a shirtless Zac Efron'
Tweeters were left wishing Griffin was back on air and were not impressed with the Bravo host, who Griffin recently branded as 'deeply misogynistic'
Cohen's more energetic, entertaining presentation style meshes interestingly with Cooper's reserved, newsy style for the CNN telecast.
For example, Cooper at one point is forced to play catch-up as Cohen rather randomly brings up a photo of a muscled kangaroo.
Cohen says the kangaroo is 'the Australian of the year'.
More than one million brave second coldest New Year's Eve... Capitals across the world welcome 2018 with series of...
Cooper, 50, replies: 'It's a little Putin-esque.' This is in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Cohen replies: 'I was thinking a shirtless Zac Efron.'
The Bravo host then brings up a Ginger-person pride ceremony in Australia. The CNN host appears nonplussed by the point of this.
Cohen at one point brings up the infamous 'Cash me Ousside' girl, who went viral for a video in which she told her haters: 'cash me ousside, how boud da?' Cooper does not meet Cohen halfway with this conversation topic because, unfortunately, he does not even know who the Cash me Ousside girl is. Of course, this could just be an act
At one point during this segment, Cohen expresses surprise that Diana Ross shops at Marshall's, a clothing store. Cooper expresses no such astonishment and points out that some spittle had formed under Cohen's mouth
At another point, Cooper pokes fun at Cohen's tendency to namedrop celebrities. The CNN host tells viewers they should create a drinking game around Cohen's penchant, before backtracking after he realizes it might cause people to drink excessively.
In a later humorous segment, the hosts quiz each other on their respective knowledge spheres - Cohen questioning Cooper about the entertainment world and Cooper questioning Cohen about politics and the economy.
Later, they put their coats and gloves on as they pass the proceedings off to hosts at cities around the country - including Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin in New Orleans, Randi Kaye on tour at a marijuana-themed bash in Colorado and Bob Weir in Key West, Florida.
Cooper mentions at one point that he is wearing three coats, a vest and two pairs of long underwear, to which Cohen replies: 'TMI.'
Cohen at one point brings up the infamous 'Cash me Ousside' girl, who went viral for a video in which she told her haters: 'cash me ousside, how boud da?'
Cooper does not meet Cohen halfway with this conversation topic because, unfortunately, he does not even know who the Cash me Ousside girl is. Of course, this could just be an act.
The New Year was brought in with much fanfare over Times Square in Manhattan, New York
They reenact a scene from a Doctor Phil episode in which the 14-year-old girl appeared. Cooper played Phil; Cohen portrayed the girl.
At another point, Cohen puts his arm around Cooper and rocks him back and forth. Cooper does his best to keep his eyes on the camera and relate to viewers that they will shortly see Celine Dion perform.
Later, Cohen makes a big deal about putting on a beanie hat that he feels is not particularly attractive. He then makes a big deal of Cooper's hair.
'This is the Katniss Everdeen,' he says, pointing to Cooper's hair. 'Girl on fire.'
Cooper then pays tribute to Jennifer Lawrence, who portrayed the Hunger Games-heroine in the smash hit film series based on the novels by Suzanne Collins.
In another segment, Cohen relates obscure entertainment news, such as Alex Trebek revealing he once ate a marijuana brownie, and Whitney Houston sending a fax to the Associated Press.
At one point during this segment, Cohen expresses surprise that Diana Ross shops at Marshall's, a clothing store. Cooper expresses no such astonishment and points out that some spittle had formed under Cohen's mouth.
'I'm happy to be here with you,' Cohen says in another segment, attempting to embrace Cooper, who has a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face and promptly says that he does not like to be touched.
The duo ushered in the New Year with champagne.
Cohen quipped: 'If Don Lemon can do it, so can we.'
The show has left multiple tweeters pining for Kathy Griffin, who had co-hosted with Cooper since 2007 before her ouster. Cooper has hosted the event since 2002.
The duo also had a rather lengthy interview with Dave Chapelle and John Mayer, during which they discussed the major philosophical trends of 2017 and Chapelle's controversy stemming from his Netflix special in which he defended men accused of sexual harassment during the past year.
Mayer at one point gave an impassioned rebuke to Twitter and said of his hopes for 2018: 'I would like to see a little more exercise of reason and I also feel like in the quest to make the world a better place...i feel we need to do a little more living and a little less fighting.'
Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin are reporting live from New Orleans for CNN this New Year's Eve
Lemon appeared to have gotten rather drunk last year and it remains to be seen whether he will once again do so
Don Lemon is once again hosting CNN's coverage in New Orleans. Last year, he appeared to be drunk while hosting and got his ear pierced live on television
His co-host Brooke Baldwin squealed while observing the wild sight of Lemon getting his ear pierced
Geno Walh wrote: 'Is it bad that the Geico sloth commercial is more entertaning thatn "andersoncooper without "kathygriffin'
Tony M commented: 'There's something wrong when Anderson seems like the funnier one! So far, score 1 "kathygriffin - 0 #AndyCohen'
But Tweeters hopeful for a potential reunion of Griffin and Cooper will likely need to wait some time for the rift that formed between them post-severed head video to heal.
Discussing her relationship with Cooper, she told New York Magazine back in August: 'Our friendship is over.'
Signs that their friendship was on the rocks came after Cooper tweeted his disdain for Griffin's actions at the time.
'For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate,' he wrote in tweet.
Those words surprised many fans because of the duo's longtime friendship, and some accused Cooper of throwing her under the bus.
According to Griffin, in the following days, four of Cooper's CNN colleagues reached out repeatedly to offer private support. Cooper, however, didn't contact Griffin until August 10 .
When Cooper finally reached out to Griffin via text message months later, she told him that their friendship of 17 years was over.
Cooper has publicly said that he had no role in her firing.
Now in its 11th year, CNN's New Year's Eve show is a global celebration featuring contributions from CNN correspondents across the country and around the world.
This year's event was branded as 'New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen'.
Don Lemon, meanwhile, is reporting from New Orleans. While reporting from the Louisiana city last year, Lemon gained some notoriety for appearing drunk and getting his ear pierced live.
As midnight approached in Louisiana, the host tweeted: #CNN producers & @brookebcnn trying to convince me to get a tattoo or a piercing of some sort. Should I? #cnnnye'
And it wasn't an empty threat either, as he recruited a piercer shortly afterward to stick a needle through his earlobe live on television.
'If this hurts I'm going to be so mad,' he winced as co-host Brooke Baldwin gripped his hand tightly in support.
'Is your mother watching?,' she asked. 'I bet your mom is... Momma Lemon, I don't know what he's thinking. At least it's just his ear, you know what I'm saying?'
American comedian and host Steve Harvey stands on stage in Times Square during the New Year's Eve celebrations in Manhattan
Meanwhile, this year, Steve Harvey is hosting this year's New Year's Eve telecast for FOX and has taken some flak for his white overcoat.
Tweeter Lester, The Writer wrote: 'Steve Harvey looks like a Batman villain that has captured Times Square and will kill civilians unless Batman answers all of his riddles.'
The replacement of Griffin with Cohen aroused some controversy after Griffin, his former co-worker at Bravo, accused him of rampant misogyny this past fall.
The Emmy winner called him 'deeply misogynistic' and claimed he offered her cocaine during a 17-minute rant on YouTube - which Cohen denied on Twitter.
'Was my boss for 10 years. Treated me like a dog. Deeply misogynistic,' Griffin said.
Griffin attracted controversy earlier this year after she appeared in a video in which she held up a severed head in the likeness of Donald Trump
Griffin called her replacement, who worked with her at Bravo, 'deeply misogynistic' and said he offered her cocaine
The TV host also told paparazzi that he 'didn't know' his former Bravo co-worker Kathy when being questioned about replacing her on CNN's New Year's Eve Live.
And on Sunday's Watch What Happens Live broadcast, he said he was imitating Mariah Carey's famous quote to 'avoid getting involved with the paps'.
Carey had famously insulted rival Jennifer Lopez in a German TV interview years ago by simply stating: 'I don't know her.'
Andy tried to use the same line but admitted it did not come off as intended.
Carey, incidentally, performed again on 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve,' hosted by Ryan Seacrest, after a bungled performance last year in which she stumbled through her short set, failing to sing for most of it despite a pre-recorded track of her songs playing in the background.
Carey was visibly upset during the performance and she blamed the show's production team, but they ultimately buried the hatchet.
She posted an advertisement featuring herself for the show on December 22 that said: 'Take 2.'
Tarana Burke, an activist who started a 'Me Too' campaign a decade ago to raise awareness about sexual violence, started this year's ceremonial ball drop. She pushed the crystal button that officially begins the 60-second countdown to the new year.
Cohen and Cooper have been friends for 25 years and once were even set up on a blind date.
'You know when straight people know two gay guys, they're like, "Oh you guys should meet." We had a phone call to set up the date, I was a young reporter at NBC, he was at CBS, Cooper said last week on the Tonight show.
'And he violated my cardinal rule, which is he asked me about my mom (who is Gloria Vanderbilt) within the first minute of talking to me.'
The Real Housewives producer previously hosted NBC's New Year's Eve Game Night alongside Carson Daly in 2015.
Auckland, In New Zealand, was the first major world city to kick off the party followed by Sydney where 1million people were thought to have watched the display over the city's harbor.
Then thousands of revelers took to the streets near Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong, where an impressive fireworks display lit up the night sky.
And Europe has brought in the New Year from Athens, Greece to London, United Kingdom in style.
New Zealand kicked off worldwide celebrations for the start of 2018 as more than 3,000 fireworks were launched into the sky above Auckland as the clock struck midnight
Sydney kicked off 2018 with a bang with a rainbow themed firework display over the Harbor Bridge to celebrate recently-legalized gay marriage
Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbor during New Year's Eve celebrations. The impressive display saw a number of red fireworks light up the skyline
The ancient Greek temple of the Parthenon atop Athens' Acropolis hill was in the shadow of fireworks during New Year celebrations in Greece
London's iconic Big Ben chimed to mark the turn of the New Year, despite being in the process of serious renovation work which has kept it out of action for several months
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