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CNN’s star anchor Chris Cuomo was terminated by CNN over his involvement in his brother’s alleged sexual misconduct.
Using “intel” from inside the media, Chris helped advise Andrew on how to respond to reports about his inappropriate groping, kissing, hugging, and remarks. Chris is accused of using his sources in the media to assist with the reporting that was being done on the governor’s accusers.
In a bombshell report, the Wall Street Journal reported that ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo claimed CNN president Jeff Zucker knew about his efforts to help his brother.
A statement from Chris Cuomo said, “To the extent that they were sent to CNN to negate what Chris Cuomo told his audience, he fully stands by his on-air statements about his connection to these issues, both professionally and in a profoundly personal way.”
“If the goal in making these false and unvetted accusations was to see Mr. Cuomo punished by CNN, that may explain his unwarranted termination,” the statement added.
An attorney representing Cuomo said that his former boss was very close to her client and that the network was aware he was assisting his brother.
A spokesman for Cuomo said, “Mr. Cuomo has the highest level of admiration and respect for Mr. Zucker.”
“They were widely known to be extremely close and in regular contact, including about the details of Mr. Cuomo’s support for his brother. There were no secrets about this, as other individuals besides Mr. Cuomo can attest,” the statement read.
Andrew eventually resigned after a months-long investigation and 165-page report confirmed that there are well-corroborated allegations that Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women and retaliated against a former employee who complained.
Text message communication revealed that he was part of his brother’s inner circle.
“This is not how I want my time at CNN to end but I have already told you why and how I helped my brother,” Chris Cuomo said in a statement.
“So let me now say as disappointing as this is, I could not be more proud of the team at Cuomo Prime Time and the work we did as CNN’s #1 show in the most competitive time slot. I owe them all and will miss that group of special people who did really important work.”
CNN president Jeff Zucker told employees that the network has asked a law firm it worked with to conduct a separate review of the misconduct allegation made against Chris Cuomo.
“That investigation will continue, as it relates to CNN,” Zucker said, however its unclear if Zucker’s own conduct is under investigation.
CNN was forced to issue a statement amid the damning revelations of its star anchor Chris Cuomo, Fox News reports, and his unprecedented involvement in his brother’s inner circle.
NEW — CNN president Jeff Zucker told employees during a call this morning that the network has asked the law firm it worked with to conduct a separate review of the misconduct allegation made against Chris Cuomo. “That investigation will continue, as it relates to CNN,” he said.
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 6, 2021
More from Fox News:
Text messages released by state investigators showed top Andrew Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa asking about “intel” the CNN anchor had on March 15 about Ronan Farrow’s reporting on the scandal, to which he replied it wasn’t ready for publication. Farrow’s story was eventually published by the New Yorker on March 18.
Cuomo’s admission contradicts what he told CNN viewers in August when he claimed, “I never made calls to the press about my brother’s situation.”
The anchor also admitted to investigators he provided the governor’s office advice on his brother’s messaging of his handling of the coronavirus outbreak…
“Just to be clear, if anyone else on CNN’s roster did this, they’d not only be fired but blacklisted from journalism period,” MSNBC columnist Eric Michael Garcia insisted.
“It’s hard to imagine any news executive keeping Chris Cuomo on staff after today’s revelations. Then again, as CNN likes to say, ‘THIS is CNN,’” Columbia Journalism School professor Bill Grueskin tweeted.
Chris himself has also been accused of sexual misconduct.
“I was groped,” says Shelley Ross, a veteran television journalist and former executive producer for ABC News.
Ross accuses CNN host Chris Cuomo of sexually harassing her when they worked together at ABC News.
As evidence, Ross provided an email in which CNN’s Chris Cuomo appears to admit to the incident. Cuomo is accused of squeezing her buttock without her permission in 2005.
In an email from Cuomo on the same day, he admits that he was “ashamed” of his behavior. Cuomo even notes that actor Christian Slater had been arrested for similar conduct. Cuomo asked Ross to pass along an apology to her “very good and noble husband.”
“I apologize to you as well, for even putting you in such a position,” the email states. Cuomo concludes that he would remember his lesson the next time he was happy to see her.
“I was hoping that in 15, 16 years that he had changed, but he’s no more enlightened today than he was then, as demonstrated by his response,” Ross says. Cuomo responded, “As Shelley acknowledges, our interaction was not sexual in nature. It happened 16 years ago in a public setting when she was a top executive at ABC. I apologized to her then, and I meant it.”
Ross then fired back. “I don’t acknowledge that there’s anything that was ‘our interaction.’ I was not a participant. I was groped,” Ross explained. “And so to say that I acknowledge interaction, no. That shows a lack of enlightenment.”
Cuomo is currently CNN’s “most-watched host” and currently anchors the show “Cuomo Prime Time.” The problem of sexual harassment allegedly runs in the Cuomo family.
