Politics

Is Chris Cuomo doomed?

A women’s advocacy group joined the chorus of lawmakers and Cuomo accusers calling for the network to oust the veteran anchor after he tried to help downplay sexual harassment claims against his brother.

A national women’s advocacy group called on CNN to fire anchor Chris Cuomo.

A national women’s advocacy group called on CNN to fire anchor Chris Cuomo. Ron Adar/Shutterstock

A national women’s advocacy group renewed their calls for CNN to take action against anchor Chris Cuomo following revelations he attempted to steer the narrative surrounding the downfall of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

UltraViolet, a feminist group that promotes women’s rights, including anti-sexual harassment and pro-abortion efforts, upped its call for the network to punish Chris Cuomo after his involvement in the scandal was detailed in documents made public on Monday.

“Reports that Chris Cuomo not only joined strategy calls with his brother, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, on how to respond to the numerous sexual harassment allegations against him, but actively advised his brother to push back against the allegations, using his position at CNN to seek information on the accusers, are completely unacceptable. He should be fired immediately,” Elisa Batista, campaign director of the Washington-based group said Tuesday in a statement to Fox News.

The group called the younger Cuomo’s behavior a “severe breach of journalistic ethics” and warned that keeping him on air “further harms survivors of sexual abuse.”

The group previously called on CNN to suspend Chris Cuomo in May, following his admission that he was “looped into calls” about how to manage the scandal. 

The scope of the veteran CNN anchor’s involvement was revealed Monday in transcripts and evidence released by state Attorney General Letitia James’ office as part of its investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the former governor. The document dump included transcripts of a six-hour July 5 interview investigators conducted with Chris Cuomo, along with text messages he sent to executive staffers attempting to manage the crisis. 

“I have a lead on the wedding girl,” Chris Cuomo texted then-top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa in March in an apparent reference to Anna Ruch, a former staffer who accused the governor of manhandling her at a wedding. 

Chris Cuomo also told investigators that he was part of a conference call with his brother’s advisers to discuss Lindsay Boylan’s sexual harassment allegations against Andrew Cuomo after she went public in a series of tweets in December 2020. 

“They were hoping that it wouldn't get a lot of traction,” Chris Cuomo told investigators, referring to the inner circle’s reaction to Boylan’s accusations.

The conference calls continued as the scandal mushroomed, according to the transcript. 

“I just know that as the situation started to accelerate, my brother asked me to be in the loop. And so from time to time, I would be contacted by Melissa or another member more frequently,” he said. 

The TV vet also admitted to working behind the scenes to dig for details on unflattering reports before they surfaced.

“I would – when asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out,” he said.

The files released Monday include transcripts of interviews with 16 of Andrew Cuomo’s former advisers and staffers, including DeRosa and Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi. 

They were unveiled following the conclusion of an August report by James’ office that found 11 of the women who accused the former governor of sexual harassment and/or unwanted touching were credible. Cuomo announced his resignation less than two weeks after the report was published.

A chorus of lawmakers, activists and media watchers, along with at least two of Cuomo’s accusers, called on the cable network to take action against Chris Cuomo in the hours after the evidence was made public on Monday. 

“In addition to scouring the internet for personal information about me, he reached out to his professional network with the hope of intercepting additional allegations against his brother, Governor Cuomo,” Charlotte Bennett said in a statement late Tuesday that was retweeted by Boylan.

“CNN must act – now. Anything short of firing Chris Cuomo reflects a network lacking both morals and a backbone,” added Bennett, who accused the governor of grooming her for sex and asking inappropriate questions about her romantic life.

Chris Cuomo, meanwhile, did not mention his brother – or revelations about his own involvement in managing the crisis – while hosting his nightly “Cuomo Prime Time” show on Monday.

And on Tuesday morning, he parroted defenses previously made by his brother’s legal team that the then-governor was forced to step down – not because he was guilty, but because the political and public pressure in the wake of James’ report was too strong to weather. 

“I did not want him to resign in the beginning because I believed him and I thought that you don’t resign, you ( . . . ) let due process take care of the situation,” he reportedly said in a SiriusXM podcast. “But eventually when there wasn’t going to be due process ( . . . ) then he had no choice.”

Criticism of Chris Cuomo’s coverage of his brother began early in the pandemic, when CNN lifted a reportedly longtime policy against allowing the anchor to interview his politician brother. The joint appearances became must-see TV for many Americans who came to view the older Cuomo as a national leader of efforts to combat the COVID-19 crisis.

CNN remained silent on the star anchor until Monday, when it issued a statement vowing “thorough review and consideration” of the evidence and transcripts.

“We will be having conversations and seeking additional clarity about their significance as they relate to CNN over the next several days,” the network said in a statement to the Washington Post.

Neither CNN, nor the former governor could immediately be reached for comment.

Chris Cuomo defended his practices regarding his brother to investigators, but acknowledged that he may have put his own reputation at risk.

“This was just – you know, just wanted to be able to help my brother ( . . . ) through a situation where he has told me he did nothing wrong,” he said, according to the transcripts. “Probably should have been thinking more about how I protect myself, which just never occurred to me. And that was it.”

Editor’s Note: Following publication of this article late Tuesday, CNN announced it suspended Chris Cuomo indefinitely. 

“The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions,” the network said in a statement to The New York Times.

“When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly. But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second. However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother’s efforts than we previously knew.”

NEXT STORY: Hochul, de Blasio urge masks indoors amid concerns over omicron variant

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.