Chris Cuomo fired after CNN learned of alleged sex attack during office ‘lunch’: report
Chris Cuomo allegedly attacked a female ABC News temp worker when she denied his proposition for sex during a “lunch” in his office, it was revealed on Tuesday.
The accusation was made to CNN lawyers in December hours after Cuomo was suspended for advising his brother, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, how to dodge his own sexual harassment accusations, according to the New York Times. The CNN host was fired days later.
The unnamed accuser had come forward after Chris Cuomo was suspended from the network on Nov. 30 for helping Gov. Cuomo try to beat back the multiple allegations that ultimately ended his political career, the report said.
“Jane Doe” had long been disgusted by the similarities between the Democrat’s accusers’ plight and her own, employment lawyer Debra Katz reportedly said.
Chris Cuomo, 51, had invited the “young” worker to his office for lunch on the pretext of giving her advice on obtaining full-time employment at the network in 2011, according to the report.
When the woman arrived, there was no food, and the anchor badgered her for sex, the letter sent to CNN lawyers on Dec. 1 reportedly said.
When she declined his advance, he reportedly attacked her, the letter alleged.
Five years later, as #MeToo accusations surrounded news anchors like Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer, Chris Cuomo contacted his accuser to do a flattering piece about her then-employer, according to the article.
His outreach was an attempt to “‘test the waters’ and discourage her from going on the record about his sexual misconduct,” Katz reportedly wrote.
Multiple friends and former co-workers said the accuser had told them Cuomo made unwanted passes at her, according to the paper.
In an interview with the paper, the accuser said she was “haunted” by the parallels between her experience with Chris Cuomo and the accusers of the former governor, and soon hired a lawyer.
The woman was “deeply traumatized,” and would remain anonymous so as not to become “a pawn in an internecine war between [Jeff] Zucker, Chris Cuomo and CNN,” Katz reportedly wrote in the letter to CNN, which led to the swift dismissal of the anchor.
