It seems it is only a matter of time before the other Cuomo brother is also forced out of public life in disgrace. CNN’s Chris Cuomo, like his brother Andrew, is facing credible new allegations of sexual harassment. The liberal CNN host was recently under fire for attempting to help his embattled brother to cover up the scandal which forced him out of office. In a predictable twist, Chris is now being exposed as having engaged in the same behavior.
Other Cuomo brother accused
A New York Times op-ed written by Shelley Ross, once Cuomo’s boss at ABC, describes a specific incident of sexual harassment which occurred in 2005.
Ross claims that Cuomo groped her during a hug in a public location, shortly after she had ceased to be his superior at ABC.
The CNN host acknowledged the incident in response to the New York Times article but claimed that it was “not sexual.”
An image published with the article shows an apology email from Cuomo sent after the incident which expresses regret but claims that he had no “negative intent.”
Ross herself claims that she does not bear any grudge against Chris and does not want to see him fired over the incident. She does label his behavior as sexual harassment.
Despite not fully trusting his apology, Ross expressed a hope that Cuomo would repent for his past behavior by taking his role as a journalist seriously and critically covering the issue of sexual harassment.
CNN refuses to fire Chris
If the noxious CNN personality is experiencing any real contrition for his past behavior he has chosen some strange ways of showing it.
When brother Andrew was finally exposed for his long history of sexual harassment, Chris was quickly on hand to advise him on how to evade the consequences of his behavior.
Both Cuomo brothers faced additional criticism after this became public knowledge but CNN continued to stand by Chris in spite of his violating journalistic ethics and attempting to minimize damage from the allegations against his brother.
This is not too surprising for a network which has quietly brought back Jeffrey Toobin, who was fired elsewhere for exposing his genitals to colleagues on a Zoom call.
Other companies might fire Chris Cuomo for his behavior but he can for now rest assured that his employers will continue to provide a safe haven for sexual harassers.
Given his record it is difficult to believe that Shelley Ross is the only person who has experienced this behavior from the younger Cuomo. More accusations may be forthcoming.
