‘This entire story looks awkward for CNN’: Chris Cuomo colleague admits scandal has caused ‘conundrum’ at network

‘As one staffer said to me, the lines are just too blurred when it comes to Chris,’ said Brian Stelter

It was the elephant in the room: would CNN primetime anchor Chris Cuomo address the sexual harassment scandal engulfing his brother, New York Gov Andrew Cuomo?

Nearly 1m viewers tuned in night after night this week, making Mr Cuomo’s 9pm EDT show the most-watched programme on the cable news network on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

But even if he had wanted to comment on the damning findings of sexual harassment against the New York governor, Mr Cuomo has been gagged from talking it by management, CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter said on Sunday.

“Management has been clear about its position: he is not covering the governor on TV, period,” Mr Stelter said on his Reliable Sources show.

“He is not talking about it at all.”

Mr Stelter said his requests to interview his CNN colleague had been declined, and Mr Cuomo, who turns 51 on Monday, was now on a long-planned holiday during his birthday week.

But as Andrew Cuomo faced a possible impeachment proceeding and a criminal investigation stemming from his sexual harassment of 11 women, revealed Tuesday in a bombshell report from the New York Attorney General Letitia James, attention quickly turned to the CNN host’s role in the scandal.

Chris Cuomo interviewed his brother multiple times during the height of the pandemic in 2020, once joking that the governor was “single and ready to mingle”.

It later emerged the Cuomo Prime Time host had taken part in strategy sessions advising his brother how to respond to the allegations.

“This entire story looks awkward for CNN,” said Mr Stelter.

“As one staffer said to me, the lines are just too blurred when it comes to Chris.”

He said the cable news network had recognised that Mr Cuomo had “crossed a line”, and publicly reprimanding him was an appropriate response.

“Telling a well-off host to hang out by the pool for a couple of weeks is not a real punishment. It’s BS when Fox sends a host off on ‘vacation’ during a scandal.

“Scolding a host in public, saying what they did was inappropriate, that is an actual punishment.”

Mr Stelter said CNN senior executives had decided that whatever Mr Cuomo said about the scandal would be “picked apart”.

“He will be accused of either using his platform to spin for his family, or accused of betraying his brother.”

“This has been a conundrum for CNN, it has no perfect answer,” he added.

Mr Stelter said as a primetime host, Mr Cuomo was kept entirely separate from CNN’s newsroom. Some staffers had speculated that coverage of the scandal had been extra tough on CNN because of the scrutiny.

“The issue is whether Chris can continue to do his job, continue to be trusted by the audience. Clearly, the leaders of CNN think so.”