CNN officially terminates Chris Cuomo | Breaking
CNN issued a statement on termination of Chris Cuomo after conducting review of anchor aiding brother's defense
Shelley Ross, the veteran TV producer who previously came forward to accuse Chris Cuomo of sexual harassment, offered her reaction to his firing from scandal-plagued CNN.
"It is always disturbing to watch someone’s fall from grace," Ross told Fox News. "Many people lost very important jobs in the wake of the sexual harassment scandals surrounding Gov. Cuomo."
CNN TERMINATES CHRIS CUOMO ‘EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY’
"I am glad that CNN will fall on the right side of history. Those who harass women, strategize to silence or smear those who come forward must be held accountable," Ross added.
Ross, who earlier doubted that the liberal network would sever ties with Cuomo, went public in September penning a guest essay in the New York Times alleging that Cuomo squeezed her buttock at a work function in 2005 while the two of them were colleagues at ABC News. She shared the email he had sent to her apologizing for the incident.
(Shelley Ross/Getty Images)
The scandal-plagued network issued a statement Saturday evening announcing it had terminated Cuomo "effective immediately," coming just days after he was suspended pending a review of the damning revelations from the New York Attorney General's office about his involvement in protecting his scandal-plagued brother, ousted Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
"While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate," CNN stated.
CNN'S CHRIS CUOMO ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSING FEMALE PRODUCER WHILE AT ABC NEWS
In a memo to staffers, CNN president Jeff Zucker wrote, "Today I let Chris know that we are ending his employment at CNN," adding, "It goes without saying that these decisions are not easy, and there are a lot of complex factors involved. But, as always, it was important to me to be upfront with each of you."
Cuomo released his own statement reacting to his firing.
"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," Cuomo wrote. "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."
UltraViolet, a leading national gender-justice organization, called for CNN to immediately fire Chris Cuomo. (CNN)
The beginning of the end for Chris Cuomo at CNN began on Monday when the New York Attorney General's office released documents from its sexual harassment investigation into ousted Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, revealing the anchor was far more involved in helping his brother than he publicly acknowledged.
Transcripts from his interview with investigators show the CNN star admitting he would reach out to media sources to find out about new accusers who have yet to come forward publicly.
"When asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out," Cuomo told investigators.
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."
Three days after the New York Times broke the story about Anna Ruch, who alleged the governor sexually harassed her at a 2019 wedding reception, the CNN anchor texted top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, "I have a lead on the wedding girl."
CNN’s Chris Cuomo performed prop comedy with his brother New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a widely panned segment in 2020. (CNN)
In another exchange, DeRosa texted to Cuomo, "Rumor going around from politico 1-2 more ppl coming out tomorrow," then asking him "Can u check your sources?"
Cuomo replied "on it," later writing back "No one has heard that yet."
The "Cuomo Prime Time" host snooped into the progress of Ronan Farrow’s reporting about his brother and relayed it to the governor's inner circle.
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He admitted to contacting colleagues of Farrow for updates but claimed it was simply "business-as-usual" to employ such methods. Text messages released by state investigators showed DeRosa asking about "intel" the CNN anchor had about Farrow's report on March 15, to which he replied it wasn't ready for publication. Farrow's story was eventually published on March 18.
Additionally, the transcript from investigators' interview with Democratic strategist and Andrew Cuomo ally Lis Smith showed Chris Cuomo had forwarded her documents regarding the governor's second accuser Charlotte Bennett and her "time in college."