By: Amelia Dasari — Online Editor-in-Chief

Chris Cuomo was fired from The Cable News Network (CNN) on Saturday. This decision was made after new evidence shows that he deliberately defended against sexual harassment allegations made against his brother Andrew Cuomo, the ex. Governor of New York. Chris Cuomo is also facing his own sexual assault allegations. 

Cuomo was a part of CNN for 8 years, starting in 2013 as the host of CNN’s morning show New Day. He later moved to Prime Time in 2018 and began hosting Cuomo Prime Time. He also has his own SiriusXM radio show called “Let’s Get After It”.

After allegations against Andrew Cuomo were made in early 2020, Chris Cuomo said on his show that he could not cover any issues regarding the allegations on the program. CNN president Jeff Zucker acknowledged Cuomo’s obvious conflict of interest and defended him by saying that he “is human, and these are very unique circumstances.”

In May 2021, Cuomo was reported to have strategically advised his brother on how to respond to the allegations. CNN called Cuomo’s involvement in the situation “inappropriate” but said that it would not take any disciplinary action against him. 

“I am family first, job second,” Cuomo said at the beginning of his primetime show. “But being a journalist and a brother to a politician is unique and a unique challenge, and I have a unique responsibility to balance those roles. It’s not always easy.”

Many other CNN staff were conflicted by Cuomo’s actions, claiming that they violated journalism standards and ethics. Cuomo apologized and said advising his brother was a mistake. In August, Cuomo addressed his brother’s resignation, reiterating he was not involved in the situation. 

Cuomo’s former boss Shelley Ross, who worked with him at ABC News, accused him of sexual harassment in a New York Times op-ed in September 2021. Ross claimed that Cuomo assaulted her at a party. “I received the email from Mr. Cuomo about being “ashamed.”… But… was he ashamed of what he did, or was he embarrassed because my husband saw it?”.  

Ross says that she is hoping Cuomo will be held accountable for his actions, ” I have no grudge against Mr. Cuomo; I’m not looking for him to lose his job. Rather, this is an opportunity for him and his employer to show what accountability can look like in the MeToo era”. 

​​Cuomo was under fire after these accusations arose, but he was indefinitely suspended from CNN on December 1st after new documents showed that he was much more involved in helping his brother than it seemed. 

On Wednesday’s episode of “Let’s Get After It,” Cuomo’s SiriusXM radio show, he said “It’s embarrassing, but I understand it”. CNN’s chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter said his suspension is nothing permanent, “it’s possible he’ll be back in January”. 

Cuomo was officially fired on December 6th, after even more “new allegations” were brought to CNN about his actions. He also stepped away from his SiriusXM show. He acknowledged his departure from the network in a statement on Twitter. “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 … I will miss that group of special people who did really important work”.