Bravo Andy Walks Away From a Job

I'm generally of the school of thought that the more we see and hear from Bravo exec Andy Cohen the better (how can anyone dislike the man who's brought us the Real Housewives and Top Chef?), but news that he's bowed out of a specific hosting gig is, this time, forgivable. Cohen told Giuliana Rancic that he won't be hosting the Miss Universe pageant this year, even though the two have co-hosted the event for the last two years in a row. His reason? He's not really that into going to Russia right now. He explained:

Their discriminatory policies make it unsafe for the gays who live there and gays coming to work or visit. The law is that anyone under suspicion of homosexuality can be arrested ... [I don't] feel right as a gay man stepping foot into Russia.

And among his tweets about Oprah's appearance on his late night talk show that you're not watching but totally should be, and his tweets about how boring it is being stuck in traffic with a less than talkative cab driver, Cohen's retweeted some news about Russia's clearly anti-gay stance.

There's been a petition on Change.org to convince Donald Trump, the pageant's owner, to relocate the competition, but so far, Moscow seems like the go-to spot. Cohen's rejection of the hosting gig, though, might throw some weight behind the cause. Moving the pageant out of Russia would send a clear message, and if Toddlers & Tiaras has taught us anything, it's that pageants are great at starting drama ... why not use that power for good?

Cohen's kept his cool in many a high-pressure situation — he's survived a shove from Teresa Giudice, he came out of a bird dive-bombing unscathed, and he's managed to have a love/hate relationship with Susan Lucci for the better part of two decades — but we're glad his level-headedness won't be put to the test in Russia.

That said, the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion might be just as tough as setting foot in Moscow. Stay safe out there, Andy.