Andy Cohen has a simple explanation for why he didn't wave at Ryan Seacrest on New Year's

Andy Cohen is waving away criticism from Ryan Seacrest.

Earlier this week, Seacrest waged a battle of the pleasantries against the Watch What Happens Live host when he claimed that Cohen didn't wave at him while they were filming their respective holiday broadcasts on New Year's Eve. While recording his radio show Radio Andy on Wednesday, Cohen shared that he simply "didn't see him" and, to further prove his innocence, called his CNN co-anchor Anderson Cooper live on air to back him up.

"[Seacrest] said on the show that you very politely turned around and waved to him and mouthed to him, 'Have a good show,'" Cohen told Cooper on the show. "And that I didn't turn around."

Cooper, who did exchange waves with Seacrest, said that it was only because he "just happened to turn" at the right moment and spot him. "There were a couple times I looked to see if he was around and I hadn't seen him," he said. "And then there was one time I just turned and he was there over by where they, you know, do that hourly like countdown."

That fleeting moment breezed right by Cohen, who was "dealing with the show" and missed the interaction entirely. "It all happened so fast it wasn't a big deal," Cooper said. "I mean, every year we always say hi to him… So I assumed maybe you had previously and I was just catching up."

But Cohen had not. "No, I would've said, like, 'Hey, there's Ryan,'" he pointed out. "Like, 'Say hi.'"

Seacrest explained that the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve stage was located right next to CNN's New Year's Live in Times Square while on Live with Kelly and Ryan on Tuesday. "When I was not working, I was trying to get their attention," he said. "I just wanted to wave and say hi, you know, they have a great show."

"Anderson, the best, he turns around and says, 'Have a good show,'" he continued. "Class. Class! Andy did not turn around."

Noam Galai/Getty Images; Bruce Glikas/WireImage Andy Cohen said he 'didn't see' Ryan Seacrest during their New Year's Eve broadcasts.

His co-host Kelly Ripa, however, clarified that Cohen was "trying to get your attention" but that the pair just didn't link up. "Really? I'm like, 'It's me! Guys, it's me! Put me in your shot! Put me in your background!'" Seacrest joked on the show. "'Cause, you know, honestly, we're all in it together. We're within ten feet of each other doing the shows."

Seacrest and Cohen, of course, have had their share of New Year's squabbles. While hosting New Year's Live back in 2021, a drunken Cohen notoriously slammed Seacrest and ABC's broadcast, for which he has subsequently apologized.

Seacrest not-so-subtly shaded Cohen last month by saying that he doesn't "advocate drinking when one is on the air" in an interview with EW last month. "I don't know how that started as a tradition, but it's probably a good idea [to scale back], CNN," he said. "There's some pretty respectable people or at least one, right? I think there's a serious journalist and then a friend of mine who has a lot of fun, but it's probably a good idea."

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