Chris Cuomo

Cuomo filed an arbitration claim seeking $125 million from CNN, alleging wrongful dismissal, breach of contract and reputational damage. He maintained that senior executives knew he had been advising his brother and that he was made a scapegoat.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is the complainant

Press investigations reported that New York health officials were sent to Chris Cuomo's home in the Hamptons to test him for COVID-19 during a period of testing shortages, under arrangements offering particular attention to the governor's relatives and other influential people.

State of the evidence

Disputed

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Washington Post revealed that Chris Cuomo had participated in conference calls with his brother, staff, lawyers and advisers to discuss responses to sexual harassment allegations against the governor. CNN described his involvement as inappropriate.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Directly implicated

Former ABC producer Shelley Ross alleged that Cuomo grabbed and squeezed her buttock in front of her husband at a party in 2005, saying he could do so because she was no longer his boss.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Directly implicated

Messages and depositions released by the New York Attorney General's office showed Cuomo requesting a greater role in strategy, suggesting wording and approaching journalistic contacts to obtain information about forthcoming articles and certain women accusing Andrew Cuomo.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

CNN suspended Cuomo indefinitely, concluding that the documents demonstrated a level of involvement in his brother's defence greater than the network had known and raised serious questions about journalistic standards.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Lawyer Debra Katz informed CNN that an anonymous former colleague accused Cuomo of serious sexual misconduct predating his arrival at the network. The information emerged while his role in helping his brother was being reviewed.

Attribution

Directly implicated

CNN terminated Cuomo's employment four days after his suspension. The network said an external law firm had reviewed information concerning his involvement in Andrew Cuomo's defence and that additional information had emerged.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

During the first phase of the pandemic, CNN suspended its usual rule preventing Cuomo from interviewing his brother Andrew, then Governor of New York. The highly personal exchanges attracted large audiences but prompted criticism over journalistic ethics and independence.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

A video showed Chris Cuomo becoming angry at a man who called him "Fredo", a term he described as an insult against Italian Americans, and threatening, among other things, to throw him down the stairs.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated