CNN anchor Chris Cuomo (Cuomo Primetime) has been fired from the network after new information came to light about his involvement in his brother’s, Andrew Cuomo’s, allegations of sexual harassment, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The New York governor was initially accused of sexual harassment in December 2020 by multiple women, when he subsequently resigned in August.
“Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense. We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately,” CNN said in a statement, via The Hollywood Reporter.
It was previously found by the New York Attorney General’s office through transcripts and other official documents that Cuomo helped his brother develop responses to the countless allegations against him, and that he used his contacts and sources as a journalist to unveil information about the accusers. In addition, he gathered information about developing stories by other journalists about his brother. Specifically, it was discovered that Chris Cuomo had been looking at a story being developed by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker, and had looked into details about the timing of its publishing and whether the reporter had found any new accusers.
“I wasn’t going to call [Ronan Farrow]. I wasn’t going to try to influence any of the stories. And we know that that’s true because you would have read about it had I. It’s not exactly a loyalty-based business,” Cuomo said to investigators, via The Hollywood Reporter. “If I had tried to influence any of the reporting at CNN or anywhere else, I guarantee you, you people would know, and so would a lot of others. So the idea of one reporter calling another to find out about what’s coming down the pipe is completely business-as-usual.”
Chris Cuomo faced yet another allegation of sexual misconduct, that could have been the network’s tipping point, after his former executive producer at ABC News wrote in detail of an encounter between the two in 2005, in which he allegedly sexually assaulted her. On Wednesday, it was revealed by lawyer Debra S. Katz to CNN that her client, a former junior colleague at another network, was allegedly harassed by the younger Cuomo.
Cuomo has since released a statement to Twitter