Andy Cohen Apologizes to Julia Stiles After 2025 Dance Dig Resurfaces on DWTS

Q: Did a controversial radio comment secretly give Julia Stiles the ultimate underdog narrative needed to dominate the dance floor?

Yes — at least in narrative terms, Andy Cohen’s comment appears to have handed Julia Stiles a ready-made underdog storyline, and she used it effectively on the *Dancing with the Stars* premiere. Stiles herself said the remark was “imprinted” in her brain and framed it as motivation to compete. In rehearsal footage, she and partner Ezra Sosa even turned it into a goal: win the Mirrorball and end up on Cohen’s couch. That gave viewers an immediate arc — a star publicly doubted, then stepping onto the ballroom floor to answer critics. The show amplified that storyline in real time. After Stiles and Sosa performed a quickstep to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” judge Derek Hough directly rebuked Cohen with, “Andy Cohen, you can eat it!” Social media reaction suggested the moment resonated, helping position Stiles as someone audiences wanted to root for. Her 18 out of 30 score also backed up the redemption angle with a solid competitive start. There is also a deeper layer. Coverage noted Stiles had long carried pressure from *Save the Last Dance* and had stepped away from dance classes because of expectations tied to that role. In that context, the Cohen remark did not create the whole story, but it sharpened it: this became not just about proving a critic wrong, but about reclaiming confidence and joy in dancing. Whether that narrative will help her “dominate” the season remains unproven. But it clearly strengthened her launch and gave her one of the premiere’s most memorable storylines.

3 articles · Updated · Just Jared · Sep 17

Bravo host Andy Cohen used "Watch What Happens Live" to name himself "Jackhole of the week" and apologize to Julia Stiles for mocking her dancing in a 2025 SiriusXM interview.
Stiles revived the remark during the second night of the "Dancing with the Stars" season 34 premiere, saying it helped motivate her to join the competition.
Her quickstep with Ezra Sosa scored 18 out of 30—one of the night's top marks—and judge Derek Hough piled on by telling Cohen, "you can eat it."
The exchange turned a year-old celebrity slight into a live TV storyline, with Stiles and Sosa joking they now want to win the mirrorball and confront Cohen on his couch.