Former Bravo Star Calls Out Andy Cohen

Getty Andy Cohen attends The 23rd Annual Critics' Choice Awards.

Former Bravo star Jonathan Antin is criticizing Andy Cohen about his involvement in Antin’s show Blow Out. Blow Out followed Antin’s life and his Los Angeles hair salon Jonathan Salon Beverly Hills. The Bravo reality series debuted in 2004 and had a second season in 2005.

Blow Out showcased 12 stylists and assistants and their relationship with their boss, Antin. While the show only lasted two seasons, Antin still made appearances on other hair styling shows. Antin was a judge on the third season of Bravo’s Shear Genius in 2010 and joined WE tv’s L.A. Hair in 2015.

Antin has since departed from the reality series world, but he hasn’t completely left his feelings behind. Antin founded both Jonathan West Hollywood and Jonathan Salon Beverly Hills, and he later ended up selling both salons. After making expensive client house calls for a few years, he founded Jonathan Antin Salon in August 2017.

Jonathan Antin Slammed Andy Cohen

Even though Blow Out left Bravo in 2005, Antin still has some feelings about the way Andy Cohen handled the show. Antin appeared on an episode of the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast, which aired on Wednesday, November 4. On the podcast, Antin explained an argument he had with Cohen after he decided to fire one of his employees who he thought crossed the line multiple times, and Cohen wasn’t pleased.

“Andy Cohen called me and said, ‘Jonathan, I heard you fired Brandon and you can’t fire him yet. You got to give us at least two more episodes and like a little heads up,’” Antin told David Yontef. “We gotta end the storyline. You can’t just fire somebody like that. I said, ‘Well, actually I can, it’s my business.’”

During the conversation, Antin told Cohen the employee was already fired. He added that the discussion changed his relationship with Cohen. “Like, come on, you know what I mean?” Antin said about the employee’s inappropriate behavior. “This isn’t a zoo, a carnival, it’s a hair salon in Beverly Hills. This guy’s acting like an animal. It’s not right. And you know, I’m sure he’s cool. And I’m sure he’s alright, but not in my salon. We don’t do that here.”

Antin added, “And I’m sorry, the damage is already done. He’s fired. He’s gone. So, this is a reality show. Be real, you know what I mean? Let’s move on. I’ll give you all the drama you want. You don’t need Brandon, trust me. And from that day forward, Andy and I were never good. We were okay, but that really pissed him off.” Antin added that the show still continued despite the conversation.

Jonathan Antin Accused Andy Cohen of Stealing a Show

Blow Out only lasted two years on Bravo, but Jonathan Antin didn’t think his reality television career was over there. Antin told David Yontef on his podcast Behind the Velvet Rope that he created a new reality show on Fox, but once Bravo found out, they announced a similar show.

“I did a couple pilots after Blow Out,” Antin recalled. “I had a huge pilot that was supposed to air like Kitchen Nightmares with the same producers as Gordon Ramsey, Arthur Smith made a spinoff like a sister, if you will, of Kitchen Nightmares called Salon Nightmares that we shot a whole episode.”

Antin told Yontef, “It was supposed to air and it was incredible. It was me going into other salons that were like disastrous and ripping them to shreds, retraining all staff, and building them back up. Grand reopenings and you know, kinda like Tabatha Takes Over.”

He added, “But Andy got wind of it and because it was with Fox and Andy didn’t really have anything to do with it, but they were supposed to kind of like partner up on it on the launch. Andy freaked out and announced Tabatha’s Salon Takeover at the upfronts the day before we were announcing.”

Antin thought Cohen announced Tabatha Takes Over earlier to be, “spiteful,” but he still hoped his show with Fox would be more successful. After filming a pilot, Fox gave Antin some bad news. “[The] show was supposed to air,” he said on the podcast. “Mike Darnell was the head of alternative entertainment [at Fox]. He said to me, ‘I’m sorry, Jonathan, we don’t do anything second. And Andy’s already announced the show. So it’s over, it’s done.’”

The news devastated Antin. “And I literally started crying and I was like, ‘Who cares about Andy?’” Antin said. “You know, I know he’s big and he’s a big deal. And Tabatha is, you know, known from Sheer Genius. But I would think like I have a little more weight than her and, our show looks amazing. It looked as good as Hell’s Kitchen and you know, and it looked better than Blow Out.”

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