cuomo-emmy
NEW YORK (77WABC) – Just when Andrew Cuomo thought his troubles were behind him, now we are learning that the International TV Academy has taken back the Emmy award it honored him with last year.
“The International Academy announced today that in light of the New York Attorney General’s report, and Andrew Cuomo’s subsequent resignation as Governor, it is rescinding his special 2020 International Emmy Award,” the organization said in a statement. “His name and any reference to his receiving the award will be eliminated from International Academy materials going forward.”
Cuomo resigned as New York’s governor two weeks ago over sexual harassment allegations. The International TV Academy gave the then governor the International Emmy Founders Award “for effective communication and leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
At the time Cuomo was on TV daily providing information and advice during the early part of the pandemic.
“The Governor’s 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure,” Bruce L. Paisner, International Academy president and CEO, said at the time. “People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back.”
Cuomo has continued to maintain his innocence. During his resignation speech, he said, “I think that given the circumstances the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to government, and therefore that is what I’ll do, because I work for you, and doing the right thing, is doing the right thing for you.”
“The attorney general’s report was designed to be a political firecracker on an explosive topic and it worked. There was a political and media stampede,” the third-term Democrat said in his farewell address.
Cuomo is also still under investigation over allegations that he covered up the true number of people who died in New York State nursing homes during the pandemic in order to secure a $5 Million dollar book deal.
Other Founders Award recipients include Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, and Norman Lear.
No word yet if Cuomo has officially given back the Emmy statue.
