CNN star Chris Cuomo has been indefinitely suspended after it emerged he tried to help brother Andrew during his sexual harassment scandal.
Cuomo, a CNN journalist and primetime host, is the brother of former New York Gov Andrew Cuomo, who was forced to resign after allegations of sexual assault were made against him earlier this year.
According to new documents released this week, Chris Cuomo was in contact with one of his brother’s top aides Melissa DeRosa and offered to help craft his defense against the shock claims.
A spokesperson for CNN said on Tuesday: “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.”
“As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation.”
Read our Chris Cuomo live blog for the latest news and updates…
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‘I NEVER ATTACKED ANYONE’
Chris Cuomo also had previously debunked claims of his involvement in the efforts by Andrew’s aides to stave off the growing scandal.
The CNN host said: “I never attacked nor encouraged anyone to attack any woman who came forward.”
“I never made calls to the press about my brother’s situation. I never influenced or attempted to control CNN’s coverage of my family.”
He said at the time he had no plans to comment further. “This will be my final word on it,” the host said before cutting to a commercial.
“Let’s take a break. We’ll be right back.”
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‘I’M NOT AN ADVISOR’
In May, Chris Cuomo said: “I’m not an advisor; I’m a brother. I wasn’t in control of anything. I was there to listen and to offer my take.”
“And my advice to my brother was simple and consistent: own what you did, tell people what you’ll do to be better, be contrite, and, finally, accept that it doesn’t matter what you intended.”
“What matters is how your actions and words were perceived,” Cuomo said on Prime Time.
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CHRIS CUOMO PREVIOUSLY APOLOGIZED FOR ADVISING BROTHER
Chris apologized in May after it emerged that he had offered advice to Andrew’s aides as the governor faced sexual harassment accusations.
After that, the host pledged not to discuss his brother’s scandal, but CNN kept him on the air, disturbing some colleagues who considered his role a glaring conflict of interest.
Cuomo added that the situation involving the governor’s scandal was “unlike anything I could have imagined.”
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CNN’S FULL STATEMENT ON CHRIS CUOMO’S SUSPENSION
A CNN spokesperson stated: “The New York Attorney General’s office released transcripts and exhibits Monday that 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.”
“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.”
“As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation.”
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CHRIS CUOMO SUSPENDED
Chris Cuomo has been suspended indefinitely while CNN investigates allegations that he advised his brother Andrew Cuomo through his sexual harassment scandal.
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MEGHAN MCCAIN: ‘SUSPENSION IS NOT FIRING’
The conservative pundit reacted to news of CNN’s suspension of Chris Cuomo on Tuesday.
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TRUMP CALLED CHRIS CUOMO ‘FREDO’
Former president Donald Trump has long been a critic of Chris Cuomo, dubbing the younger Cuomo “Fredo,” a reference to mob boss Michael Corleone’s brother in The Godfather.
Last year Trump called for CNN to fire Cuomo, tweeting: “Will Fredo be fired by Fake News @CNN?
“He speaks with great disrespect about women, and it will only get worse. Fredo’s Ratings are bad, so this is the time,” the president wrote.
“Always terrible to speak to sleazebags, especially when you are being recorded. CNN has no choice, Fredo must go!”
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IS ANDREW CUOMO MARRIED?
Cuomo is not married but has three children with former wife Kerry Kennedy.
Twins Mariah and Cara are 25, and Michaela is 22.
Cuomo was married to Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F Kennedy, from 1990 to 2005.
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HOW MANY CHILDREN DID MARIO CUOMO HAVE? PART TWO
Madeline, 57, has been married to Brian John O’Donoghue since 1993 and according to The Times, at the time of their wedding, she was a lawyer specializing in matrimonial law.
Lastly, Cuomo’s youngest son Chris was the host of the weeknight Cuomo Prime Time show on CNN until his suspension this November.
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HOW MANY CHILDREN DID MARIO CUOMO HAVE?
The couple had five children – Margaret, Andrew, Maria, Madeline, and Christopher – and six grandchildren.
Their eldest daughter Margaret, 66, is a radiologist, author, philanthropist, and blogger on health issues.
Followed by Andrew, who was born in December 1957 in Queens, and has served as the 56th governor of New York since 2011.
Middle child Maria is an Emmy-winning documentary producer.
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WHO WAS MARIO CUOMO MARRIED TO?
Cuomo was married for over 60 years to his wife Matilda, from 1954 until his death in 2015.
She is a graduate of St John’s University’s Teachers College.
The pair met in the cafeteria at St John’s, where they were both enrolled, in 1951.
She is the founder of the child advocacy group Mentoring USA and in 2017, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
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WHEN DID MARIO CUOMO DIE?
Cuomo was hospitalized for a heart condition in November 2014.
A year later, in January 2015, he died of heart failure at his home in Manhattan.
Cuomo’s death was only hours after his son Andrew was sworn into a second term as governor of New York.
Cuomo had a history of heart issues.
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WHO WAS CHRIS AND ANDREW’S DAD MARIO CUOMO?
Mario Cuomo, 82, was a lawyer and a politician from Queens, New York.
He graduated from St John’s School of Law in 1953.
A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 52nd Governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994.
He retired from politics after he was defeated for a fourth term as governor by George Pataki in 1994.
He then joined the New York City law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
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WHAT DID CHRIS CUOMO DO BEFORE BEING ON CNN?
Cuomo has previously been the ABC News chief law and justice correspondent and the co-anchor for ABC’s 20/20.
He attended Yale, where he earned an undergraduate degree, and Fordham, where he earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1995.
He is a licensed attorney.
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HOW TALL IS CHRIS CUOMO?
It has been reported that he is 6-foot-2, but that is not confirmed.
Cuomo is the brother of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo.
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DID ANDREW CUOMO RESIGN?
Gov Andrew resigned on August 24 after the New York District Attorney validated the accusations of sexual harassment, which were made by at least 11 women, many of them current or former employees.
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CNN SAID CHRIS’ INVOLVEMENT IN ADVISING BROTHER WAS A ‘MISTAKE’
After the AG report revealed in May that Chris Cuomo had advised his brother Andrew’s team on the former governor’s sexual harassment scandal, CNN issued a statement.
“Chris has not been involved in CNN’s extensive coverage of the allegations against Governor Cuomo — on air or behind the scenes,” CNN said in a statement.
“In part because, as he has said on his show, he could never be objective. But also because he often serves as a sounding board for his brother,” the statement read.
It continues, “However, it was inappropriate to engage in conversations that included members of the Governor’s staff, which Chris acknowledges. He will not participate in such conversations going forward.”
CNN said at the time it would not discipline Cuomo.
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AG REPORT SAID CHRIS CUOMO ADVISED BROTHER
The AG report also found that Chris Cuomo advised his brother on how to respond after sexual harassment claims initially started coming out.
In May, the CNN host acknowledged this on TV and apologized to colleagues.
“I love my family and I love my job,” he said. “And I love and respect my colleagues here at CNN. To them, I’m truly sorry.”
In the report, the governor’s brother is listed as one of several outside advisers who were “regularly provided with confidential and often privileged information” that impacted the government despite having no “formal role, duty, or obligation to the State.”
The CNN host was emailing with his brother’s advisers about how to respond to allegations in a public statement, the report said.
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WHAT WAS ANDREW CUOMO ACCUSED OF?
An attorney general report found that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed several women and Chris helped his brother write responses to the press after the sordid allegations began emerging earlier this year.
The investigation found that Cuomo, 63, “sexually harassed multiple women,” including members of his own staff, members of the public, and state employees.
The results of the investigation led to widespread calls for Cuomo to resign.
More than half a dozen sexual harassment allegations were leveled against Cuomo earlier this year, with the claims ranging from instances of unwanted kisses, hugs, and groping, to inappropriate remarks of a sexual nature.
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CHRIS CUOMO WAS ACCUSED OF RECEIVING ‘PREFERENTIAL COVID TESTING’
Former NY Governor Andrew allegedly ordered state officials to give preferential Covid testing to his brother and other family members.
Last year, in the early days of the pandemic, high-level members of New York’s Health Department were reportedly directed to give priority testing to CNN’s Cuomo as well as the governor’s mom and his sister.
The Albany Times-Union reported that Gov Andrew and state Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker directed health officials to prioritize Andrew’s family members as well as other influential people with ties to the governor’s administration.
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CHRIS CUOMO SLAMMED BY CRITICS AFTER SUSPENSION
Many conservatives have used social media to celebrate the suspension of Chris Cuomo from CNN.
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CNN’S FULL STATEMENT ON CHRIS CUOMO’S SUSPENSION
A CNN spokesperson stated: “The New York Attorney General’s office released transcripts and exhibits Monday that 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.
“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,.
“As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation.”
-
‘I NEVER ATTACKED ANYONE’
Chris Cuomo also had previously debunked claims of his involvement in the efforts by Andrew’s aides to stave off the growing scandal.
The CNN host said: “I never attacked nor encouraged anyone to attack any woman who came forward.
“I never made calls to the press about my brother’s situation. I never influenced or attempted to control CNN’s coverage of my family.”
He said at the time he had no plans to comment further. “This will be my final word on it,” the host said before cutting to a commercial. “Let’s take a break. We’ll be right back.”
-
‘I’M NOT AN ADVISER’
In May, Chris Cuomo said: “I’m not an adviser; I’m a brother. I wasn’t in control of anything. I was there to listen and to offer my take.
“And my advice to my brother was simple and consistent: own what you did, tell people what you’ll do to be better, be contrite, and, finally, accept that it doesn’t matter what you intended. What matters is how your actions and words were perceived,” Cuomo said on Prime Time.
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CHRIS CUOMO PREVIOUSLY APOLOGIZED FOR ADVISING BROTHER
Chris apologized in May after it emerged that he had offered advice to Andrew’s aides as the governor faced sexual harassment accusations.
After that, the host pledged not to discuss his brother’s scandal, but CNN kept him on the air, disturbing some colleagues who considered his role a glaring conflict of interest.
Cuomo added that the situation involving the governor’s scandal was “unlike anything I could have imagined.”