UltraViolet Calls for CNN to Immediately Suspend Chris Cuomo, Conduct a Full Investigation Into His Involvement in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Effort to Dismiss Sexual Harassment Allegations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 20, 2021
CONTACT: Brett Abrams | brett@unbendablemedia.com
UltraViolet Calls for CNN to Immediately Suspend Chris Cuomo, Conduct a Full Investigation Into His Involvement in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Effort to Dismiss Sexual Harassment Allegations
Women’s Group Says CNN Cannot Possibly Give Gov. Cuomo’s Survivors Fair Media Coverage With His Brother On-Air and Potentially Interfering with Reporting
WASHINGTON, DC — This afternoon, The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey and Sarah Ellison reported that “CNN anchor Chris Cuomo advised his brother, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and senior members of the governor’s staff on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations made earlier this year by women who had worked with the governor.”
According to the report, Chris Cuomo “joined a series of conference calls in which he “encouraged his brother to take a defiant position and not to resign from the governor’s office, the people said. At one point, he used the phrase ‘cancel culture’ as a reason to hold firm in the face of the allegations, two people present on one call said.”
In reaction to The Washington Post’s report, Bridget Todd, communications director at UltraViolet, a leading national gender-justice organization that has called for Governor Cuomo to resign, issued the following statement:
“Reports that Chris Cuomo not only joined strategy calls with his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo, on how to respond to the numerous sexual harassment allegations against him, but actively advised his brother to aggressively push back on the allegations, is deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable.
“Make no mistake – this wasn’t just a brother talking to his brother about their lives, or even about politics. This was a major network news anchor advising the Governor of New York to actively push back against sexual harassment allegations and denegrate survivors of abuse by defining their calls for accountability as ‘cancel culture.’ The fact that after this advice, Governor Cuomo instructed surrogates to attack and defame those who courageously came forward with their stories should not be lost on anyone.
“Even if Chris Cuomo never covered the allegations against his brother on-air, this raises serious questions about how Chris Cuomo covers all sexual harassment allegations. It also raises questions as to whether Cuomo’s position at the network could potentially intimidate or silence other reporters who were looking into the story.”
“CNN should immediately suspend Chris Cuomo and conduct a thorough investigation into whether or not his position of authority at the network has impacted how others covered the allegations against his brother, Governor Cuomo. Anything less is unacceptable, and further harms survivors of sexual abuse, who are already disinclined to come forward for fear of retaliation from men in power like the Cuomo brothers”
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