Chris Cuomo Sets The Record Straight About His Involvement In Andrew Cuomo's Case
Chris Cuomo has been consistently — and confusingly — vague about his involvement in older brother Andrew's sexual harassment scandal.
Per The Guardian, Chris confirmed that he'd spoken to his brother prior to the disgraced politician resigning his post but reasoned that he wasn't acting in an official capacity.
"I said point blank I can't be objective when it comes to my family," he said on-camera. "And when [the scandal] happened, I tried to be there for my brother. I'm not an adviser. I'm a brother, I wasn't in control of anything. I was there to listen and offer my take."
He continued: "And my advice to my brother was simple and consistent on 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."
The anchor also confirmed that he'd encouraged his brother to step down.
Chris explained that he hadn't intended to mislead anyone or to influence the network's coverage of the scandal, acknowledging it was a complicated situation. However, the younger Cuomo also continued to protest his innocence, claiming he'd advised rather than been an adviser.
Widespread reports suggested that the brothers continued discussing the scandal even after New York Attorney General Letitia James had opened her investigation into the victims' claims. Chris was ultimately terminated by CNN, per Variety.
Now, though, the besieged anchor has been asked to clarify his position once more.
Chris Cuomo was concerned about his brother becoming a victim of 'cancel culture'
Per the Independent, in newly released footage from New York Attorney General Letitia James' office, disgraced former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo finally admits to advising his brother Andrew on how to tackle the increasing number of sexual harassment claims made against him.
Moreover, Chris was instrumental in crafting a response to the allegations. The video was taken from a lengthy interview, conducted in July 2021, during which Andrew confirmed there were multiple conversations, text messages, and emails exchanged between him, his brother, and Andrew's team about the ongoing scandal.
The former anchor explained that he was simply "trying to help" his brother. "I think cancel culture is real, so does my brother," he explained. "I advised him that you cannot ignore these. That it's not going to go away, not in our society, not in our media culture, not in your party."
Although he claimed to have advised the former New York mayor not to go after his accusers, it later transpired that Chris had been pressing sources for information on the various women and then reporting it back to Andrew's staff.
Chris was fired from his position at CNN after a transcript of the interview confirmed that he'd been heavily involved in Andrew's scandal. CNN President Jeff Zucker even admitted to staff that he'd been misled about Chris's involvement.
James' report ultimately found that Andrew had sexually harassed at least 11 women over the years.