Breaking: CNN Fires Chris Cuomo [UPDATE: Cuomo Responds]
“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.”
This is a bit shocking, really, given that Jeffery Toobin still works for CNN, but I guess masturbating on camera during a Zoom staff meeting is just the teensiest bit better than using one’s “journalistic integrity” to ‘defend’ one’s brother governor accused of sexual harassment and assault by going full Hillary in allegedly digging up dirt to trash the accusers.
Chris Cuomo is out pic.twitter.com/yur8oX86R8
— Ben Smith (@benyt) December 4, 2021
CNN reports (note the byline is Brian Stelter, ouch!):
CNN said Saturday that anchor Chris Cuomo has been “terminated” by the network, “effective immediately.”
The announcement came after an outside law firm was retained to review information about exactly how Cuomo aided his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, when the then-governor was accused of sexual harassment.
CNN said 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,” CNN’s statement added. “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.”
While the contours of Chris Cuomo’s involvement with the governor’s office were reported several months ago, the specifics were detailed in a massive document dump on Monday. The documents — released by New York Attorney General Letitia James after an investigation into the governor — showed that Chris Cuomo, while working as one of CNN’s top anchors, was also effectively working as an unpaid aide to the governor.
The cozy and improper nature of the relationship was conveyed through text messages obtained by James’ office. The texts between the anchor and several aides and allies of the governor revealed that Chris Cuomo sought to use his connections in the press to help prepare Andrew Cuomo’s team as accusers started to make their stories public.
Maybe those rumors about CNN being forced to go back to reporting news by “actual journalists” are true?
[Update, FS]
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) December 4, 2021
Dude regularly got a ratings thumping from the Watch Paint Dry channel, but yeah, okay.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Very surprising. There is some other angle, this was not an integrity move, the whole “news” team would be fired for their misreporting on any number of stories…
Baby steps maybe? Personally, I would love an actual news channel that just gave the facts, no spin, just what was said, by whom, in what context, etc. CNN used to do that (well, I only tuned in for great big disasters back when CNN was the “go to” for what was happening on the ground of whatever disaster, terror attack, whatever, so who knows what they did the rest of the time?).
There’s no market for hard news. The product of news organizations is not news, it’s you. They sell you to advertisers. They have to report what people will watch, which means soap opera.
It used to be that the news division was a loss leader, a condition of keeping your FCC license with public service; that changed and news was made a profit center. They found their audience with Jessica in the Well. Huge ratings and they never looked back.
The dems free-ride on the need for soap opera, as suppliers of it. The news biz is in control, however.
The right has a niche reporting on what the crazy left is saying now, which used to be for amusement (see early Rush Limbaugh, when he was funny). Now the right too plays to outrage, which is something less morally useful.
Search the NYT for a John Tierney article (1997?) “Diana’s Death Resonates with Women in Therapy,” for an indirect survey of the news biz model.
Jane Gross, not John Tierney, sorry. John Tierney was a ground breaking report on strip clubs and the DOW around the same time.
How can you tell if there’s a market for something that doesn’t exist?
Supply and demand. If it paid, it would be there. Think city council meetings, for hard news.
I started watching CNN from the first day the appeared on cable TV. Back then, they were a genuinely useful news outlet, which you would never know from looking at them today. I personally would love to see them return to those early days, as typified by their reporting of the first Gulf War.
But that might not be financially viable for them. Our society seems to have changed materially since those days. of just 30 years ago. We seem to have steadily become a nation with the attention span of chipmunks on LSD, who are only interested in being told what we want to hear.
And, whether one is on the Right or the Left, there is always some network who is ready, willing, and ablr to feed us an unlimited amount of intellectual junk food, 24/7. We get the news media that we deserve.
Toobin did the nasty on a swamp Zoom call, where none of the participants were inclined to eat one of their own by complaining about it (and I apologize for the unsettling mixed metaphor). Cuomo’s behavior is likely to show up in real lawsuits, and CNN doesn’t need the agita.
Pretty much no one makes me laugh like you do, Henry! And I mean that in a good way: (and I apologize for the unsettling mixed metaphor). Still giggling. 😛
You hit the nail right on the nose!
Just a guess but… the New York AG is a black female who wants to be Governor. Andrew Coumo was in the way of that. When multiple juicy and credible sexual harassment claims were made against him the opportunity was just too perfect for a female wanting to run for Gov to pass up, even when/if he tried to bribe her out of it. The fact that he was already seen as a lame duck didn’t hurt her case.
Meanwhile, Fredo Coumo, not being the sharpest tool in the shed, and certainly not being burdened with any integrity, abuses his position (and staff) at CNN to dig up opposition research for his brother. In this case, digging up dirt on Andrew’s accusers. He also begins prodding Andrew’s Chief of Staff to participate in using that dirt to create and conduct a counter insurgency campaign to impugn the accusers’ characters and smother their claims.
He got caught, the catch was very public, and the potential new Gov has more weight with CNN than the Coumos do. So they lose.
In short, they both overplayed their Democrat immunity hands and got moved to the enemy of the people box.
CNN adjusting to the possibility that Nick and Kyle might be their new bosses.
No more brother, cancel brother is politically congruent.
Cuomo Family is ended. New York Dems have a newer power structure to work on….. the old power brokers are fading. Same corruption but a different package.
Yes. Virginia, there really is a Santa Clause…….
By this time next year Zucker, Lemon, Stelter, and many others may also be unemployed.
Word is the people who will be running CNN after AT&T spins off Warner Media and merges it with Discovery Inc would like to see some major changes made at CNN. Such as going back to at least pretending to do non-partisan ‘journalism’.
CNN IS DEAD WITHOUT TRUMP TO KICK AROUND
They should be paying royalties to Trump. They should fund his next campaign. They are dead without him. They must change their business model if they are to have any chance at survival.
Chance is nice but it doesn’t happen fast enough.
So, who gets cuomos slot? Joy Reid? Geraldo Rivera? Juan Julliams? Whoopi Goldberg?
A box-checker – for sure.
After Stacey Adams loses, she’ll be hired to fill the screen.
They’re going to have to replace the chyron with a fiber optic cable — the pointy way.
I expect they would have to back off with the camera a bit to get all of her into the screen…….
And oh, what a sight that would be!!!
And you nail the CNN death-spiral in one easy comment.
I guess I do. Reality is often very sad.
They would need a crown of slugs in a studio audience if they hired Geraldo Empty Safe.
The female NY State AG who just shot him out of his seat?
NO SURPRISE – CNN MOVES ARE ALL POLITICAL
Political winds changed and CNN followed along. Toobin’s transgression did not have a political element – so he survived. Democrats calculated they had to kill Andrew Cuomo and therefor Chris Cuomo had to go too.
Andrew Cuomo became a political liability for the DNC. They did not want to admit that one of their own could callously kill 6,000+ seniors – so they had to get him out on sex harassment. As a single guy “on the prowl”, he made it easy for them by messing around at work. It was just a matter of time. By the way, many many Democrats have survived scandals much worse that Cuomo’s inappropriate touching (which is typically subject to he-said/she-said interpretation). But the Democrats needed a pretext for getting him out. Guilt or Innocents of the charges was not a factor. Not to say he is not guilty of all of that and more – it’s just that they wanted him out – at all costs.
If CNN intends to back to straight reporting with real journalists, how much longer does Brian Stelter have at the netwok?
If they retire him to a cool, dark room, he might sprout new journalists.
If CNN wants to compete against Fox News ratings powerhouse Tucker Carlson weekdays at 8 PM, there is only one person on the planet who could do it. And it’s not Howard Stern.
Truth is a powerful weapon and a powerful draw. Tucker wouldn’t be on top if he wasn’t truthful. CNN and MSNBC are on the bottom, because only the most ignorant/arrogant narcissistic schumcks like Bette Midler need constant feeds of stupid.
“constant feeds of stupid” — good one Fine.
Now you have me guessing.
Cenk Uyghur? Too Air America.
Steven Colbert? Too much reputation for real journalism.
Oprah? Wouldn’t take the pay cut.
Michelle Obama? Could deliver eyeballs, in a “toast that looks like Jesus” kind of way.
Alan Alda? I’m going with Alan Alda.
So then, bar for being fired from CNN is somewhere above jerking off in front of a dozen people, and somewhere below stalking and harassing sexual assault accusers.
Good to know CNN has ‘standards’.
Now he needs to lose the radio show, he can become a you tuber begging for super chats all night long
Why would anyone believe this means anything about CNN other than they don’t like getting caught doing bad things?
“CNN’s #1 show in the timeslot”
anything the channel put in the timeslot would be their #1 show in that timeslot. It’s just one channel. It’s #1 out of 1.
Then again, there’s the obvious answer: Cuomo was valuable to CNN only because his brother was the governor. And that’s gone.
If Brandon croaked tomorrow, how many more half-million dollar paintings do you think Hunter would sell?
HUNTER PARDON IS COMING
Henry – Hunter also needs daddy to live long enough to give him a pardon.
CNN “Upfront.” That’s rich.