Chris Cuomo Reacts To CNN Firing, Zucker 'Knew'

Over the weekend CNN fired Chris Cuomo amid an investigation into his involvement into advising his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. He was suspended earlier mast week and the network conducted an investigation.

“Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense. We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately,” the network said in a statement on Saturday. “While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.”

Following his dismissal from the network, former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo denies allegation of sexual misconduct, his representative says. https://t.co/rCSx1KY7rZ

— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 6, 2021

In his own statement on Saturday, Cuomo said: “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 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.”

Last Monday, new documents, released by the office of the New York Attorney General, revealed that Cuomo went to greater lengths than he previously disclosed while advising his brother. The documents, which were from an investigation of the sexual harassment accusations that forced the governor to resign, showed that the host used his contacts as a journalist to attempt to learn information about the accusers.

In addition, the documents reveal that Chris Cuomo was regularly in touch with Andrew Cuomo’s adviser Melissa DeRosa. A text message proves that in March, just days after a woman named Anna Ruch accused Andrew Cuomo of attempting to kiss her at a wedding, Chris Cuomo told DeRosa, “I have a lead on the wedding girl.”

Around the same time, Cuomo told viewers he “obviously” could not cover the accusations against Andrew. However, he did not disclose that he was already serving as a de facto adviser.

Chris Cuomo's spokesman on Sunday issued an extraordinary statement, claiming the CNN's president Jeff Zucker was fully aware of his star anchor's communications with his brother's team. 

Chris, 51, was fired on Saturday from his $6 million-a-year job after CNN ruled that he had not been forthcoming about how much help he had given Andrew Cuomo when he was battling sexual abuse allegations. Yet Chris's spokesman on Sunday said Zucker knew all about the assistance - as did others around Zucker.