Chris Cuomo addresses 'frustrating' ongoing lawsuit against CNN in rare comments
Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo gave rare public comments about his firing from CNN and how his ongoing legal battle against the network has upended his life, in a new interview with Bill Maher that aired Sunday.
Cuomo was fired by CNN in December 2021 amid multiple scandals, including reports that he had helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his legal defense against sexual harassment allegations. At the time, he was the highest-rated anchor at the liberal network.
In 2022, Cuomo launched a whopping $125 million arbitration lawsuit against CNN.
While on Maher's "Club Random" podcast, Cuomo said he wished he could reach a settlement with his former employer.
"I wish that s— would go away," Cuomo said. "I would settle it. I’m not looking for $100 million or anything like that. I just want everybody to be on the same page that I didn’t lie to anybody about anything."
"And I totally get why the new ownership didn’t like it, but the idea that my boss didn’t know what I was doing is silly. It was all over the communications," he added.
Cuomo, who now hosts a show on NewsNation, called it "frustrating" that his dramatic firing and the scandals surrounding it had so greatly disrupted his life but were no longer on the public's radar.
He told Maher that he had to "move past" the hurt he felt over the situation and "let it go."
"It was [horrible] for me…I just didn’t know how to handle it," he said of the scrutiny into his personal life at the time. "I had never seen six cars of paparazzi chasing one of us, people in the media. That doesn’t happen."
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Later in the episode, Cuomo addressed his brother's bid for New York City mayor, and denied he would be discussing political strategy with him.
"He is so worried about protecting me because of what happened," Cuomo told Maher. "I’m his little brother. He’s worried. He hates what happened. He feels guilty about it."
"I tried to tell him, ‘Look, I made my own choices.' I was always going to help my brother. I just didn’t do anything underhanded, and I didn’t lie about it," he continued.
CNN declined to comment.
Cuomo was initially benched by CNN following revelations of his close involvement in helping his older brother strategize through his sexual harassment scandal, which ultimately culminated in the governor's resignation in 2021. The younger Cuomo was axed after the network learned of a misconduct allegation from his tenure at ABC News. A former colleague claimed he had sexually assaulted her, which he denied.
A CNN spokesperson said in a statement at the time, "Based on the report we received regarding Chris’s conduct with his brother’s defense, we had cause to terminate. When new allegations came to us this week, we took them seriously, and saw no reason to delay taking immediate action."
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.