By: Ellen Cans
Chris Cuomo, the CNN anchor, was fired on Saturday for his role in aiding his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in trying to mitigate the sexual harassment accusations threatening to topple his leadership position in the state. Now, Chris has his own allegation to worry about too. As reported by the NY Post, Chris Cuomo has been accused of sexual misconduct by a former co-worker. CNN was informed regarding the allegation on Wednesday, when the employment lawyer who represents the accuser contacted them. The undisclosed accusation is a former “junior colleague” of Chris, at ABC news network, as per Debra Katz, the accuser’s lawyer. The allegation is not linked to the series of accusations against Andrew Cuomo, which led to his resignation several months ago.
Chris lost his job at CNN, when New York’s AG Letitia James suggested on Monday that the younger Cuomo had a more active role in damage control for his brother’s political career than he previously admitted to the cable network. Reportedly, Chris used his press connections to help Albany officials snoop into the past of one of his brother’s accuser, and also participated in strategy sessions to help the governor silence the scandal. The star prime time anchor was suspended indefinitely by CNN from his reported $6 million a year job, for misleading the network as to his involvement. “Based on the report we received regarding Chris’s conduct with his brother’s defense, we had cause to terminate,” a CNN spokesman told The NY Times. “When new allegations came to us this week, we took them seriously, and saw no reason to delay taking immediate action.”
Katz, who also represented on of Andrew Cuomo’s accusers, said her client “came forward because she was disgusted by Chris Cuomo’s on-air statements in response to the allegations made against his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo.” In particular, Chris’ March 1 broadcast was brought up, where the anchor said “I have always cared very deeply about these issues, and profoundly so.” CNN lawyers will interview the woman this week, after signing a non-disclosure agreement.
Chris Cuomo did not talk about the new allegations, but issued a statement on Saturday saying, “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. “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.”
