After Journey performed on the ABC show, Andy referred to the band as “Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers that are performing behind us.”
He doubled down and added, “I mean, with all due [respect], if you’ve been watching ABC tonight, you’ve seen nothing. I’m sorry.”
Andy admitted he may have had too much to drink during the broadcast, as he captioned his Jan. 1 Instagram post, “I was a hair over-served last night, but man did I have fun! I hope you did too.”
However, Andy later apologized for his comments.
“The only thing that I regret saying, the only thing is that I slammed the ABC broadcast and I really like Ryan Seacrest and he’s a great guy,” he said on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live in January 2022. “And I really regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it.”
After that year’s coverage, CNN implemented their new rules and Ryan took a moment to weigh in on the change, telling Entertainment Weekly in December 2022 that he doesn’t “advocate drinking when one is on the air.”