Andy Cohen has taken aim at Martina Navratilova’s controversial stance against parental surrogacy, drawing some pushback from fans of the outspoken tennis star.
The Emmy-winner, 57 — who is father to two children conceived via the surrogacy process — spoke about Navratilova’s remarks Tuesday on his SiriusXM station satellite show, Andy Cohen Live.
The St. Louis native addressed a now-deleted tweet Navratilova — whose wife is Bravo star Julia Lemigova, 53 — published last month that read, ‘Surrogacy is just wrong. Sometimes you can’t have it all.’
Cohen didn’t mince words on the latest episode of his SiriusXM show Andy Cohen Live as he said he felt Navratilova’s remark stemmed from a place of ignorance.
‘What Martina tweeted was, “Surrogacy is wrong.” She said, “Surrogacy is just wrong. Sometimes you can’t have it all” – well, here’s the deal, that’s just ill-informed and dumb.
‘Basically, she’s uninformed on the issue, so I just think she’s not informed – it’s … a bad take, what can I tell you? She’s just wrong.’
Andy Cohen has taken aim at Martina Navratilova’s controversial stance against parental surrogacy , drawing some pushback from fans of the outspoken tennis star; seen in LA in July
Navratilova, 68, published (and then deleted) a tweet last month that read, ‘Surrogacy is just wrong,’ which Cohen said was misguided; seen in 2024
Cohen added, ‘You know, Julia did say on Watch What Happens Live … what she said is Martina’s tweet was kind of misinterpreted or misrepresented – what Martina tweeted was, ‘Surrogacy is wrong!”
Daily Mail has reached out to reps for Navratilova for further comment on the story.
The Bravo executive producer added that he ‘didn’t want to start debating it’ with Lemigova during the live WWHL broadcast.
Cohen said that the controversial topic would probably be up for discussion with Lemigova at the upcoming Real Housewives of Miami reunion.
‘Julia and I have discussed this offline,’ said Cohen, who has overseen a SiriusXM station Radio Andy for a decade. ‘Martina will not be at the Miami reunion, so I will not be asking Martina about this.’
In a July 30 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Lemigova said of her spouse’s controversial take: ‘I completely disagree with her comments.’
Lemigova told Cohen on the show: ‘Well, you know, Martina and I share a bed, but we don’t share a brain.’
She added that her and Navratilova don’t ‘always agree on different views,’ but that she believes in surrogacy.
Navratilova’s wife is Bravo star Julia Lemigova, 53; the couple seen in 2024
Cohen is father to two children conceived via the surrogacy process: son Benjamin, six, and daughter Lucy, three; the family seen in 2024
A number of Bravo fans took Cohen to task for his remarks in an Instagram comment thread – and said the tennis icon was well within her right to express her views without being labeled as uninformed.
‘Surrogacy is 100% abused and babies become commodities to be sold,’ said one user. ‘So Martina is allowed her opinion! Whether he likes it or not.’
Said another user: ‘Why can’t she have her own opinion???’
One fan wrote, ‘Sooo now people can’t opinions that differ from yours! Cute.’
Said one user: ‘I’m not sure calling someone dumb is the right way to go about it tho. Keep it professional Andy.’
Cohen has been open about his surrogacy journey as well as his experience with single fatherhood.
The TV personality’s first child — six-year-old son Benjamin Allen — was born on February 4, 2019.
He then welcomed daughter Lucy Eve, now three, three years later on April 29, 2022.
A year after Lucy’s birth, Cohen revealed to pal Anderson Cooper revealed the thinking behind his decision to become a father as he neared 50.
‘Your mom loved that Peggy Lee song, Is That All There Is?’ said Cohen, referring to Anderson’s mother, the famed socialite Gloria Vanderbilt.
‘Basically, she’s uninformed on the issue, so I just think she’s not informed – it’s … a bad take, what can I tell you? She’s just wrong,’ Cohen said of Navratilova’s tweet; Cohen seen with daughter Lucy in 2024
A number of Bravo fans took Cohen to task for his remarks in an Instagram comment thread
‘That’s where I was. I was approaching 50, and I heard that song in my head. I was like: ‘There’s gotta be a greater purpose for me. This is wonderful, and I absolutely love it. But there has to be a greater purpose,” he said on CBS.
Having children has ‘has changed me in every way. I mean, I think my priorities have completely shifted,’ the Real Housewives producer explained.
‘I think my sense of accomplishment has totally changed. And even just getting your kids breakfast and getting them out to school, when I drop him off at school, I’m like: ‘You did it, dude! That was a rough two-and-a-half hours, you know?”
Andy also explained why he did not allow the fact that he was single to stop him from becoming a father – though it has changed what he looks for in a relationship.
‘I just thought: ‘I wanna do this. And I’m doing it. And I know it’s gonna be really hard, and I don’t know what that actually means.”
However he admitted in the 2023 interview that ‘I think this year for the first time, I think having Lucy, my second child, I think suddenly I was like: ‘Wow. I have two kids. I’m doing this alone.”
