Written by Stephanie Sartori
These days, it seems that the news is filled with stories about powerful figures falling from grace. But it’s unusual to watch two brothers go down together.
This case is about news anchor Chris Cuomo getting fired from CNN in 2021. His brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, was accused of sexual harassment, and the CNN anchor helped create legal defenses and offered to find out information about the cases brought against him.
Governor Cuomo rose to fame during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 by holding news conferences where he spoke directly to citizens about the state of New York and its efforts to combat the spread of the virus. His candidness attracted people all over the country to tune in. At a time when we needed guidance, Governor Cuomo became the leader we were looking for. He even won an Emmy award for his briefings. Why is all of this important? Because it made Governor Cuomo a popular public figure, and COVID-19 was the topic of discussion when he appeared on his brother’s show.
Chris Cuomo also had a following. He spent time reporting on various news stations in his career, and eventually became the anchor of Cuomo Prime Time on CNN. By the first quarter of 2021, it had over 2 million viewers total, achieving one of the top spots among political commentary shows and one of the top shows on CNN. Both brothers were involved in politics and became nationally known around the same time.
The problems for the Cuomo brothers began when Governor Cuomo was accused of sexual harassment by a former woman staffer in 2020, in the midst of his popular news conferences. Earlier this year, the justice department concluded that he harassed, or was complicit in the harassment, of around a dozen women. He denied all the allegations and eventually resigned from his role in August of 2021.
If you’re Chris Cuomo, how do you report on the latest political news when your brother is the news? At first, he and CNN acknowledged that the governor shouldn’t be a guest on his show during this time at all. But they reneged; the network knew the brothers would have good banter and make for entertaining TV. Cuomo hosted his brother on his CNN show multiple times. It seems that they never actually discussed the governor’s sexual harassment allegations on air, though. Cuomo made a statement to say he knew that he can’t discuss his brother’s legal issues on his show. Instead, the brothers talked about COVID-19 and the governor’s popular news briefings. But behind the scenes, Cuomo was helping the governor closely. He acted as an advisor to help determine his defense against the allegations, and he offered to use his “sources” to find out how many women would eventually come forward against his brother.
This posed ethical questions. Should a political news anchor get closely involved in legal affairs of a political figure? Should he use his connections to find out about any future allegations or breaking stories about his brother? Even if they didn’t discuss the allegations, could he discuss other topics with him while still remaining impartial?
CNN determined that the host’s involvement was, indeed, unethical. They conducted an investigation and suspended Cuomo at first. He was then fired in December of 2021 after additional information was found. This was the right decision in order to keep the integrity of the network. It’s not unethical to support your family, but it is when you are part of his defense team because you can’t remain impartial to the story, whether you report on it or not. Ultimately, CNN and Chris Cuomo are both to blame; they should have kept with their original plan and never let Governor Cuomo on the show. This created a slippery slope for the CNN anchor. Ethics should have been considered and valued over the desire to make entertaining TV. The only way around this would have been if Cuomo stepped away from his show while the allegations against his brother were being investigated, like journalism professor Steven Thrasher says. Instead, Cuomo showed where his loyalties lie: family first.
References:
Bauder, D. (2021, March). CNN’s Chris Cuomo says he ‘obviously’ can’ cover brother. Retrieved from Associated Press website: https://apnews.com/article/chris-cuomo-andrew-cuomo-cnn-coverage-dc8f9661f53a69790887af17857228d3
Chris Cuomo explains why he can’ cover recent allegations about his brother [Video file]. Retrieved from CNN on https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/03/02/governor-andrew-cuomo-news-cuomo-cpt-sot-vpx.cnn
Dwyer, C. (2020, November). Andrew Cuomo to receive international Emmy for ‘masterful’ covid-19 briefings. Retrieved from NPR website: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/11/21/937445923/andrew-cuomo-to-receive-international-emmy-for-masterful-covid-19-briefings
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Lybrand, H. and Cole, D. (2024, January). Justice department settlement concludes Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed state employees. Retrieved from CNN website: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/26/politics/doj-cuomo-sexual-harassment-new-york/index.html
Milligan, S. (2020, March). How coronavirus made Andrew Cuomo America’s governor. Retrieved from U.S. News & World Report website: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-03-23/how-coronavirus-made-andrew-cuomo-americas-governor
Sarnoff, M. (2021, April). CNN’s Chris Cuomo wins key ratings demo in the quarter for first time ever. Retrieved from Mediaite website: https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-chris-cuomo-wins-key-ratings-demo-in-the-quarter-for-first-time-ever/
Stelter, B. (2021, December). CNN fires Chris Cuomo. Retrieved from CNN Business website: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/04/media/cnn-fires-chris-cuomo/index.html
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. (2024, January). Justice department secures settlement agreement with state of New York executive chamber to resolve sexual harassment and retaliation claims under title VII. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-settlement-agreement-state-new-york-executive-chamber-resolve
Villeneuve, M. (2021, August). Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns over sexual harassment allegations. Retrieved from Associated Press website: https://apnews.com/article/andrew-cuomo-resigns 17161f546bb83c32a337036ecf8d2a34#:~:text=NEW%20YORK%20(AP)%20—%20Gov,of%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.