NEW YORK — CNN announced Saturday that it has fired Chris Cuomo, the younger brother of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as it continues to investigate the “Cuomo Prime Time” host’s alleged involvement in helping his sibling respond to accusations of sexual harassment.
Here are the latest updates:
Update 11:35 p.m. EST Dec. 4: An employment lawyer told CNN on Wednesday that one of Chris Cuomo’s former colleagues has accused the ex-CNN anchor of sexual misconduct, The New York Times reported late Saturday.
The accuser’s attorney, Debra S. Katz, said her client was a junior colleague of Chris Cuomo’s at a different network, the Times reported.
The Times reported that “it was not fully clear what role the allegation played in CNN’s decision” to fire the anchor.
In a statement, a CNN spokeswoman told the Times: “Based on the report we received regarding Chris’s conduct with his brother’s defense, we had cause to terminate. When new allegations came to us this week, we took them seriously and saw no reason to delay taking immediate action.”
Chris Cuomo spokesman Steven Goldberg said the “apparently anonymous allegations are not true,” according to the Times.
NEW: CNN was informed this week of an allegation of sexual misconduct against Chris Cuomo made by a former junior colleague at another network. Story w @jodikantor @koblin: https://t.co/73dMKThlZv
— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) December 5, 2021
Original report: “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,” the network said in a statement. “We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review and have terminated him, effective immediately. While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.”
CNN did not provide details about what “additional information” was obtained during the review.
Statement on Chris Cuomo’s termination from CNN. pic.twitter.com/yKPwYtMznD
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) December 4, 2021
Chris Cuomo, 51, released the following statement in reaction to the announcement:
“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,” the statement read. “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.”
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) December 4, 2021
The news came just days after CNN said it was suspending the anchor, who had been with the network since 2013, indefinitely following the release of documents by New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to The Associated Press. The documents said that earlier this year, Chris Cuomo sought information from his sources about women who had accused his brother of sexual harassment, then shared the information with the then-governor’s staff, the AP reported.
The 63-year-old Andrew Cuomo, who has denied intentionally mistreating women, resigned in August amid the scandal, according to the AP.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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