Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was fired by the network days after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman a decade earlier, according to a new report.
Cuomo, who exited CNN last December, is accused of assaulting a temporary ABC employee in 2011 after she turned down his sexual advances, The New York Times reported.
A lawyer representing the woman sent a letter detailing the allegation to CNN shortly after the network suspended Cuomo for allegedly aiding the defense of his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, after he faced sexual misconduct accusations.
The letter from lawyer Debra S. Katz claimed the former temp was seeking career advice from Chris Cuomo, who worked for ABC at the time, when the broadcaster invited her to his office for lunch. It was there that Cuomo, after badgering her for sex, allegedly assaulted the young woman, whom Katz refers to using the pseudonym Jane Doe, according to the Times.
Katz claims Cuomo reached out to the woman years later, amid the #MeToo movement, and expressed interest in doing a CNN segment about the public relations company where she worked.
“After years without any substantive communication from Mr. Cuomo whatsoever, Ms. Doe suspected he was concerned about her coming forward publicly with her allegations and wanted to use the proposed segment as an opportunity to ‘test the waters’ and discourage her from going on the record about his sexual misconduct,” Katz said in the letter, according to The Times.
Cuomo, 51, was fired by CNN on Dec. 4. The following day, Katz said an anonymous client had accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct without detailing the nature of the allegation at the time.
Jeff Zucker, who was the president of CNN Worldwide during Cuomo’s firing, resigned from his job earlier this month, saying he hadn’t disclosed a consensual relationship with a colleague. Zucker said the relationship came up during the Cuomo investigation.
Andrew Cuomo stepped down as governor last year.
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