Andy Cohen Says He Wishes He Had “Kept My Mouth Shut” About Kate Middleton Conspiracies
Andy Cohen is the most recent celebrity to address his comments surrounding Kate Middleton made while she was recovering from abdominal surgery.
The Watch What Happens Live host returned to his SiriusXM show, Radio Andy, after a week off the air and made it a point to address his jokes about Middleton prior to her reveal that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.
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Among other comments made on Instagram, Cohen had written on X (formerly Twitter) that a reported sighting of Middleton amid rumors of her disappearance was fake. “That ain’t Kate….” his message read.
“I just want to say, I am heartbroken by the news about Princess Kate,” Cohen said on Monday’s episode. “And I think someone on Sky News called me a ‘numpty’ during that whole conversation, and they were right.”
He continued, “I wish I had kept my mouth shut, and we are all praying for Princess Kate and King Charles. And so, I just had to say that right at the beginning. It’s the first opportunity back in front of a live microphone.”
The late night host is one of many celebrities who has taken to social media following the news of Middleton’s cancer diagnosis to express their regrets over adding fuel to conspiracy theories surrounding the princess being missing from the public eye.
The viral conspiracies began shortly after the palace announced that Middleton had been released from the hospital following an unspecified abdominal surgery in January. They only got worse after the Wales’ Instagram account posted a photo of Kate and her three children, which was obviously altered and led to Middleton sharing an apology and explaining that she likes to experiment with photo editing from time to time.
On The Late Show episode following the news, Stephen Colbert addressed (but did not apologize for) how he previously mocked the Princess of Wales’ absence from public life, joking that it was because Prince William was having an affair.
“I don’t know whether her prognosis is a tragic one, she’s the future queen of England, and I assume she’s going to get the best possible medical care,” he said. “But regardless of what it is, I know, and I’m sure many of you, far too many of us know, that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family. And though I’m sure they don’t need it from me, I and everyone here at The Late Show would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.”
The View hosts also noted that they felt “awful” for contributing to the conspiracies and promoting them on their show when they dissected the manipulated image of Middleton and her children, as well as suggestions of a potential body double.
“I’m guilty of having gotten into the fun of ‘Where’s Kate?’ and thinking it’s funny and sharing the memes and playing into that, and I forgot something fundamental that we all know: Every person, whether they’re a princess, somebody in a high-privileged position or just the person next to you, is dealing with personal struggles that we don’t know about. I send my love to her and strength to her,” Farah Griffin said. “Sure, the palace totally mishandled the PR of this, but the public mishandled it. … I didn’t think there’s something more serious here that she’s dealing with. I feel awful over it.”
Blake Lively, Shannen Doherty, Katie Couric, Maria Shriver, Olivia Munn and Catherine Zeta-Jones were among other celebrities who addressed Middleton’s cancer news and shared their well wishes for the princess.
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