Last Tuesday, Bravo TV executive and host of the nightly talk show Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen, spoke on a panel at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to discuss their new exhibition, Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Cohen, who conceived the Real Housewives television franchise, said that he thinks if Warhol were still alive, he'd be a fan of the series.
During a conversation with filmmaker Vincent Fremont and artist Deborah Kass, he said, “Warhol was fascinated with everyday people being celebrities and in everyday conversation being interesting...Melissa from the Housewives of New Jersey was on the cover of Us Weekly last week...I think he [Warhol] would have been interested in that. It’s my fantasy that he would have dug the ‘Housewives’ series."
Warhol, who prophesied the idea of "15 minutes of fame" and coined the word "superstar," once said, "I'm really jealous of everybody who's got their own show on television. I want a show of my own." It's likely that he would have loved the Real Housewives of New Jersey, since he loved television in general. He once said, "The channels switch, but it's all television."
In any case, Cohen was excited to speak at the Met, as evidenced by his tweets the day of. He even suggested that Warhol would have painted the Housewives if he were still alive:
Abt to speak at the Met on a panel called "Andy Warhol & Reality Television" - I like to think Warhol would be painting Housewives!
So much fun talking Warhol at The Met.Really exciting just to be there. #NYC
