Chris Cuomo was hit with a brand new allegation of sexual harassment simply days earlier than CNN introduced it was firing the anchor amid an investigation into work he did defending his brother from related harassment allegations.
Attorney Debra Katz mentioned Sunday her shopper was the sufferer of “serious sexual misconduct” by Cuomo and that she had contacted CNN in regards to the lady’s allegations on Wednesday.
CNN suspended Cuomo earlier this week after particulars emerged about how he assisted his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, because the politician confronted sexual harassment allegations. When it introduced Network officers mentioned “extra info has come to gentle“ when it introduced Chris Cuomo’s firing, however didn’t elaborate.
Katz mentioned the accuser determined to return ahead got here after the New York lawyer basic’s workplace launched proof displaying Cuomo had taken a way more energetic function than beforehand thought in strategizing and serving to to craft a response to the allegations his brother was dealing with. When the preliminary allegations surfaced in opposition to Andrew Cuomo, Chris Cuomo had informed viewers he had “always cared very deeply about these issues,” Katz mentioned.
“Hearing the hypocrisy of Chris Cuomo’s on-air words and disgusted by his efforts to try to discredit these women, my client retained counsel to report his serious sexual misconduct against her to CNN,” Katz mentioned within the assertion.
CNN was reviewing Chris Cuomo’s conduct following the brand new info, and a legislation agency employed to assist had beneficial the community terminate Chris Cuomo.
“It goes without saying that these decisions are not easy, and there are a lot of complex factors involved,” CNN chief Jeff Zucker wrote in an electronic mail to CNN employees on Saturday.
Cuomo issued a press release on Twitter calling the choice disappointing.
“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. 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,” he mentioned.
The new misconduct allegation comes after a veteran TV govt, Shelley Ross, wrote a column for The New York Times in September saying Chris Cuomo had groped her at a celebration 16 years in the past, after they each labored for ABC News. Cuomo informed the newspaper that “I apologized to her then, and I meant it.”
