Chris Cuomo Leaves SiriusXM Following CNN Firing New documents shed light on the fact that the anchor was more involved in aiding his brother in a harassment scandal than the network originally thought.
By Emily Rella Edited by Amanda Breen
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Update 12/6: Chris Cuomo announced via Instagram today that following his firing from CNN (which initially was just an "indefinite" suspension) he will no longer continue on with his SiriusXM radio show Let's Get After It.
"The way my time ended at CNN was hard. While I have a thick skin, I also have a family, for whom the past week has been extraordinarily difficult," he wrote. "So right now I have to take a step back and focus on what comes next … I will miss our conversations a great deal — but I look forward to being back in touch with you all in the future."
Update 12/2: Chris Cuomo has broken his silence following newly leaked documents earlier this week that revealed he was far more involved in helping craft a defense for his brother Andrew Cuomo following sexual harassment allegations against the former New York governor.
The "indefinitely" suspended CNN anchor addressed listeners on his Sirius XM radio show Let's Get After It on Wednesday evening.
"I've been suspended from CNN. You know this already. It hurts to even say it, it's embarrassing, but I understand it and I understand why some people feel the way they do about what I did," he said bluntly. "I've apologized in the past and I mean it. It's the last thing I ever wanted to do, was compromise any of my colleagues and do anything but help. I know they have a process that they think is important. I respect that process, so I'm not gonna talk about this anymore than that."
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Looks like the Cuomo brothers may have taken protecting your family at all costs a bit too far.
CNN announced that primetime news anchor Chris Cuomo has been "indefinitely" suspended from the network after documents released Monday revealed that he was much more heavily involved in helping his brother, Andrew Cuomo, strategically respond to harassment charges he faced earlier this year by gathering, investigating and ultimately reporting back information to his brother's camp.
In the documents released by state investigators, Chris Cuomo can be seen exchanging emails and partaking in conversations regarding his brother's strategy and statements to the media as well as suggesting he reach out to colleagues and contacts in the media to try to find out who (if anyone) else planned to come forward so that the Cuomo team could get ahead of it.
"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 … When Chris admitted to us he had offered advice to his brother's staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly," CNN acknowleged in a statement late Tuesday. "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."
Related: Cuomo's Initial Refusal to Resign Echoes Executive Harassment Dilemmas for Employers
Andrew Cuomo resigned as New York Governor in August after he was publicly hit with sexual harassment allegations made by 11 women.
It was then that Cuomo told viewers on-air that he "never made calls to the press" about Andrew's "situation," which is seemingly a lie based on information presented in the newly released documents.
Chris Cuomo's suspension comes as a huge blow to CNN, as Nielsen reported that Cuomo Prime Time was the network's most-viewed show in Q3 with nearly 959,000 viewers.
Neither Chris nor Andrew Cuomo has publicly commented on the suspension.
