American news channel CNN has fired its presenter Chris Cuomo, “with immediate effect”. The company reports that in a statement. The reason is “new information” that came out about Cuomo’s help to his brother, ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in August over sexually abusive behavior. By helping him Chris would have violated journalistic standards. On Wednesday, CNN decided to suspend Cuomo indefinitely.
At the end of the summer, the New York Public Prosecutor published a report stating that the then governor had inadvertently groped or approached at least 11 women, including nine (former) employees. Andrew Cuomo subsequently resigned as governor. New information from the same prosecutor shows that his brother Chris Cuomo, one of CNN’s star hosts, advised him on the content of statements. According to the report, he also used his journalistic network to find out information about upcoming publications about his brother, including in magazines The New Yorker and medium Politico.
Chris Cuomo admitted to the prosecutor in an earlier conversation that he had indeed inquired about the progress of the investigation that journalist Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker did to his brother. According to the presenter, that approach of a “third party” who had knowledge about the research was “business-as-usual”. In August, when his brother Andrew had just stepped down as governor, Chris stated on CNN airtime that he “never called the press about my brother’s situation.”
The presenter leaves in a statement know that his resignation is not how he would have liked to end his time at CNN and that he “explained how and why” he helped his brother. He adds that he is “proud” of the team on his evening program Cuomo Prime Time.
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