FILE Credit: Twitter
NEW YORK (77WABC) – CNN released a statement Saturday stating that it terminated anchor Chris Cuomo, “effective immediately.”
CNN suspended Cuomo on Tuesday after an investigation by the New York attorney general detailed how he helped his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, defend himself against sexual misconduct allegations.
The investigation by Attorney General Letitia James raised “serious questions” about Cuomo’s conduct, the network said in a statement this week.
“When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly,” the statement said. “But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second. However, 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.”
Andrew Cuomo, who was facing the possibility of impeachment, resigned in August. He has denied any wrongdoing.
On Saturday, CNN wrote in a statement: “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. While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.”
In a statement of his own Saturday, Chris 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.”
Variety reports that popular radio host, Michael Smerconish, will fill in next week but a permanent replacement has not been announced yet.
Statement on Chris Cuomo’s termination from CNN. pic.twitter.com/yKPwYtMznD
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) December 4, 2021
