Thanks to stunning new revelations of high deeply involved he was in mounting a defense against the sexual harassment charges leveled at his brother, Chris Cuomo has been “suspended indefinitely” by CNN.
The cable network where the younger Cuomo is a primetime host said it was suspending him “indefinitely” after details emerged about how he helped his brother as he faced charges of sexual harassment.
The network said that documents released by New York’s attorney general indicated “a greater level” of involvement in his brother’s efforts than the network previously knew.
“As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation,” the network said.
The CNN anchor had pressed sources for information on his brother’s accusers and reported back to the governor’s staff, and was actively helping to craft their response to the charges, according to emails and a transcript of his testimony before investigators working for New York’s attorney general.
Cuomo had previously acknowledged talking to his brother and offering him advice when the governor faced the harassment charges that led to his resignation. But the information released Nov. 29 revealed far more details about what he did.
The move to suspend Chris came a day after state Attorney General Letitia James released a trove of subpoenaed records that include texts showing the “Cuomo Prime Time” star agreed to contact news industry “sources” for advance information on damaging reports regarding his older brother.
In a prepared statement, CNN said the material “shed new light on Chris Cuomo’s involvement in his brother’s defense.”
“The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions,” the network said.
“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.”
CNN added, “However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother’s efforts than we previously knew. As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation.”
Chris Cuomo’s CNN contract is worth $6 million a year, according to the Celebrity Net Worth website, and last year he told listeners of his SiriusXM radio show that he’d renewed the deal for an unspecified length of time, Variety reported.
His benching came less than four months after Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace rather than face an all-but-certain impeachment over an Aug. 3 report released by James that found he’d sexually harassed 11 women, including nine current or former state employees.
CNN handled the news of Cuomo’s suspension in a rather awkward moment on Anderson Cooper’s broadcast, in front of Jeffery Toobin, another CNN star embroiled in a scandal of his own.
“Some news about this network,” Cooper told CNN viewers after wrapping up a discussion with the network’s top legal analyst, sidelined from last October until June over his Zoom masturbation incident, who was still visible on screen.
“It involves Chris Cuomo, the host of ‘Cuomo Prime Time.’ New documents released this week indicated that Chris was more intimately involved than previously known in helping his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, craft a defense amid a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations,” Cooper said as the camera cut away from Toobin to focus solely on the “AC 360” host.
Perhaps Toobin’s presence was simply a coincidence, or maybe a subtle reminder that CNN stars can return to the network after months-long, scandal-induced absences.
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