CNN host Chris Cuomo has announced he’s taking a weeklong hiatus — just days after the release of a scathing report by New York’s state attorney general concluding that his brother, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, “sexually harassed multiple women.”
“I’ll be fishing. I’ll be hanging out with you, and I’ll be making memories with the kids, and I’m looking forward to it,” Chris Cuomo told co-host Don Lemon Thursday on their CNN podcast “The Handoff.” Lemon plans to join Cuomo and his wife and children in the Hamptons in Long Island.
Cuomo, who turns 51 Monday, said his “birthday vacation,” beginning Friday, has long been planned, and that he takes it off each year. But the timing was suspicious.
The CNN host has come under fire for advising his brother on how to handle several allegations of sexual harassment when they first emerged, even while continuing to report and comment on news events. The younger Cuomo reportedly joined the governor and his top aide, communications team and lawyers on a series of conference calls to discuss strategy.
Chris Cuomo apologized to CNN viewers in May for advising his brother on how to deal with the accusations, saying he made a “mistake,” and that it wouldn’t happen again. “I can be objective about just about any topic. But not about my family,” he said.
CNN issued a statement at the time saying Cuomo’s actions were inappropriate, but it opted to take no disciplinary action against him.
The investigation of the governor by state AG Letitia James concluded that Cuomo “sexually harassed current and former New York State employees by engaging in unwelcome and non-consensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women,” James said Tuesday. His actions “violated federal and state law,” she said.
Andrew Cuomo continues to deny all accusations and is resisting calls to resign, even from President Joe Biden.
Chris Cuomo hasn’t mentioned a word about the report or the calls for his brother’s resignation.
“Obviously, I am aware of what is going on with my brother,” the CNN host told viewers in March. “And obviously, I cannot cover it because he is my brother.”