CNN fired Chris Cuomo following news that he allegedly carried out a sex attack on a temp worker during office ‘lunch’: Report
CNN reportedly fired disgraced ex-anchor Chris Cuomo after he reportedly carried out a sex attack on a temporary employee, the New York Times reported Tuesday evening.
CNN fired Cuomo in December after an investigation found that he assisted his brother, embattled ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in trying to tamp down myriad reports of sexual misconduct — reports that ultimately ended his tenure as governor.
What are the details?
Just one day before Cuomo was fired in December, an unnamed accuser told CNN lawyers that in 2011, while working at ABC News, Cuomo invited the employee — a young woman — to his office for a business "lunch." He reportedly encouraged the young woman to attend and said that he would give her advice on how to advance her media career at the network.
The report stated that the woman arrived promptly for lunch, but when she arrived, she noticed there was no food.
At that point, the accuser alleged, Cuomo began badgering her to engage in sexual intercourse.
The woman rebuffed Cuomo's advances, attorney Debra S. Katz told the outlet, allegedly prompting Cuomo to attack her.
In 2016 — well after the young woman left the network — Cuomo reportedly contacted her and asked to report on a puff piece about her then-employer in what attorneys called an apparent attempt to "'test the waters" and hope to keep her from going public about the incident.
The Times reported that the incident was described as an "abuse of power at CNN to attempt to silence my client."
“After years without any substantive communication from Mr. Cuomo whatsoever, Ms. Doe suspected he was concerned about her coming forward publicly with her allegations and wanted to use the proposed segment as an opportunity to ‘test the waters’ and discourage her from going on the record about his sexual misconduct,” Katz wrote in a letter to CNN counsel.
The outlet reported that it reviewed the messages to the woman and spoke with her former boss about the serious allegations.
"Her boss said that after the segment aired, the woman shared some of the details of the encounter and Mr. Cuomo’s subsequent outreach," the outlet reported.
The outlet reported that it spoke with at least five friends and former colleagues of the young woman who all said that they were very well aware that Cuomo had made "unwelcome sexual requests."
A spokesperson for Cuomo denied allegations contained in the letter
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