Chris Cuomo is looking forward to a new chapter of his career.
The former CNN anchor launched an interview podcast series, "The Chris Cuomo Project," this week, seven months after CNN fired him in December. On Thursday's inaugural episode, Cuomo addressed two major elephants in the room. The first was his advising for brother and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid the latter's sexual harassment allegations.
"Let me be clear: I do regret how everything ended, but I will never regret helping my family," he said. "I promised my father that I would always be there for my brother, and I always will be. Just like he has always been there for me, just like my sisters have been there for me and have been there for him. That's family."
In November 2021, the news anchor took heat for serving as an adviser to his brother. CNN initially suspended Cuomo "indefinitely" but then fired him less than a week later. Cuomo's CNN exit was the second elephant in the room. His separation with the news network was a messy one, but Cuomo said he "will never be a hater" when it comes to CNN.
"CNN has great people, CNN has a great purpose and I wish them all the best and I miss so many of the people there, but it is time for me to move on," he said. "I believe I can be more than I ever was before."
Cuomo, however, did not speak about his own sexual misconduct allegations. A day after his termination, an attorney said that her client, a former ABC News colleague of Cuomo, accused the anchor of sexual misconduct.
The nearly two-hour debut episode of "The Chris Cuomo Project" centered on Ukraine and featured interviews with actor Sean Penn, Ukraine Head of the Presidential Administration Andrii Yermak and a U.S. military veteran who volunteered to help Ukrainian refugees.
According to Spotify's description, "The Chris Cuomo Project" will see the eponymous host provide his "signature take on today's pressing current events" and will feature "in-depth interviews with newsmakers, tastemakers, and other influential figures." New episodes will post on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"My goal is to help us all of us get to a better place. I know there are solutions, I know there are better ways we can speak to each other — dialogue, which means listening. There are changes we could make as a group and as individuals," Cuomo said on Thursday's episode. "That's why I'm back."
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