Chris Cuomo Addresses His Suspension From CNN

On his SiriusXM radio show Wednesday, Chris Cuomo addressed his suspension from CNN. The network suspended Cuomo indefinitely on Tuesday following new details released in the New York AG’s investigation of his brother Andrew Cuomo’s sexual assault allegations.

"It hurts to even say it," Cuomo begins.“ It’s embarrassing. But I understand it.”

“And I understand why some people feel the way they do about what I did. 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.”

Cuomo concluded that CNN has "a process that they think is important. I respect that process, so I’m not going to talk about this any more than that."

It's unclear if and when Cuomo will return on-air at CNN. If he does, questions will still surround his long-term future at the network. I discussed the matter in a Wednesdaycolumn:

Initially, Cuomo claimed he had only “listened” and “offered advice” to his brother and his aides regarding the sexual harassment situation. At the time, CNN called such actions “irresponsible,” but opted not to punish him. CNN had ultimately calculated that Cuomo’s upside — he was the network’s leading ratings-getter in 2020 — still offset the distractions. In August, I defended CNN’s decision.

Yet now that we have new information regarding the extent of Chris Cuomo’s involvement in the scandal and the fact that his viewership has hit an all-time low, it’s hard to imagine CNN drawing the same conclusion this time.

Cuomo claimed that, in seeking damnable information about the women who had accused Gov. Andrew of sexual harassment, he’d acted as a brother, not an anchor. And while such behavior is inappropriate for someone in his profession, demonstrating family loyalty is not vile or appalling. That’s not the problem.

The problem is that Cuomo acted as both a brother and a primetime anchor to protect Andrew. Cuomo used the power and resources that come by virtue of working for CNN to dig up dirt on his brother’s accusers, an action that now reflects on CNN as a corporation.

You can listen to the audio of Cuomo's radio segment via Mediate here.