On Saturday, CNN terminated the services of its longtime host Chris Cuomo. On Tuesday, Cuomo had been permanently suspended from the network but on Saturday he was fired as allegations of his role in helping his brother Andrew Cuomo fight alleged sexual misconduct seemed to pile up. The network had hired a prestigious law firm to look into a dump of documents that were released on Monday by the New York Attorney General’s office.
A statement from the outlet noted that Chris Cuomo had been “suspended” earlier in the week “pending further evaluation of new information” that had been released. These documents detailing his involvement in the defense his brother Andrew had mounted as he faced several allegations of misconduct.
The cable news network statement also said that they had retained a “respectable law firm” to conduct a review of the documents that had been released and had “terminated him”, effective immediately.”
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The statement also said that while the review process was on, additional information had been obtained and that they would investigate as was appropriate, despite the termination.
The law firm had reportedly submitted its findings on Friday, according to a source who had knowledge of the matter, as per an article on CNN Business. The source also reportedly said that Cuomo was fired by Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN Worldwide, on Saturday.
Chris Cuomo, who was the popular host of the program “Cuomo Prime Time”, had reportedly used his contacts in the news industry to search for information about the women who had accused his brother the then governor of New York for inappropriate sexual behavior.
After the news of his termination broke, Chris Cuomo released a statement which said that it was “not how” he wanted his “time at CNN to end.” He said that he had already said why and how he had helped his brother.
CNN Business also reported that the producers and other staff on Cuomo Prime Time will keep their jobs and Michael Smerconish, who has substituted for Cuomo in the past, will host the show at 9 p.m. ET, next week.
