Chris Cuomo | |
|---|---|
 Cuomo in 2016 | |
| Born | Christopher Charles Cuomo (1970-08-09)August 9, 1970 (age 55)[1][2] New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Yale University (BA) Fordham University (JD) |
| Occupation | News broadcaster |
| Employer(s) | NewsNation (2022–present) CNN (2013–2021) ABC News (1999–2013) |
| Known for | Cuomo Prime Time New Day |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Cuomo family |
Christopher Charles Cuomo (/ˈkwoʊmoʊ/KWOH-moh; born August 9, 1970)[1][2] is an Americannews broadcaster forNewsNation. He previously worked as theABC News chief law and justice correspondent and the co-anchor for ABC's20/20, news anchor forGood Morning America from 2006 to 2009,[3] and an anchor atCNN, where he co-hosted its morning showNew Day from 2013 through May 2018, before moving toCuomo Prime Time in June 2018.
Cuomo is the brother ofAndrew Cuomo, who was the 56thgovernor of New York from 2011 to 2021, and the son ofMario Cuomo, who was the 52nd governor of New York from 1983 until 1994. In December 2021, Cuomo was fired by CNN after reports that he assisted in the defense against thesexual harassment allegations that led to his brother's resignation.[4] He subsequently joinedNexstar Media Group, hostingCuomo forNewsNation.
Cuomo was born in theNew York City borough ofQueens. He is the youngest child ofMario Cuomo, the formergovernor of New York, andMatilda Cuomo (née Raffa), and the brother ofAndrew Cuomo, a former governor of New York.[3] His parents were both ofItalian descent; his paternal grandparents were fromNocera Inferiore andTramonti in theCampania region of southern Italy, while his maternal grandparents were fromSicily (his grandfather fromMessina).[5][6]
Cuomo was educated at Immaculate Conception School inJamaica, Queens;[7] and then atThe Albany Academy,[8] a privateuniversity preparatory day school inAlbany, New York, followed byYale University, where he earned an undergraduate degree, and theFordham University School of Law, where he earned hisJuris Doctor in 1995. He is a licensed attorney.[9][10]
Cuomo's early career in journalism included appearances related to social and political issues onCNBC,MSNBC, andCNN. He was a correspondent and political policy analyst forFox News and Fox Broadcast Network'sFox Files, where he covered a wide range of stories focusing on controversial social issues.[11] When asked if he should be considered a journalist on his show, Cuomo said, "I don't know how that's relevant. I don't care what they classify me as. I'm not forwarding my agenda. That's not my thing. My opinion is irrelevant." When hired forFox Files Roger Ailes, the Fox News chairman, called Cuomo "fearless".[12]
At ABC and as co-anchor of20/20, his year-long coverage of heroin addiction revealed the extent to which it was affecting suburban families.[11] His other work has included coverage of the Haiti earthquake, child custody, bullying, and homeless teens. Policy changes followed his undercover look at for-profit school recruiters, including an industry-wide cleanup. Cuomo's tip from aBMW owner led to a recall of over 150,000 affected vehicles.[3][11]
From September 2006 to December 2009, he was the news anchor forGood Morning America.[11] He was the primary reporter on breaking news stories, both in the U.S. and around the world, including dozens of assignments in some ten countries.[3][11] He covered thewar on terrorism, embedded on multiple occasions in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq (where his convoy was hit by an IED).[3] In the U.S., he covered theVirginia Tech shooting, the2009 Fort Hood shooting, and thePennsylvania Amish school shootings. He did live broadcasts of HurricanesKatrina andRita, theSago Mine collapse, and theMinneapolis bridge collapse in August 2007. He anchored morning and evening coverage.[3][11]
During his period at ABC, he had a website, "Cuomo on the Case," as well as two weekly digital programs:The Real Deal andFocus on Faith.[11] He also appeared withFather Edward Beck onABC News Now, the network's 24-hour digital outlet.[11]
In February 2013, Cuomo moved toCNN to co-host its morning show.[13] He made his debut on CNN as field anchor on the February 8, 2013, episode ofPiers Morgan Tonight, covering theFebruary 2013 North American blizzard.[14] In March 2018, while serving as the co-anchor of CNN's morning showNew Day, CNN announced that Cuomo would move toprime time to hostCuomo Prime Time.[15]
In October 2017, sister networkHLN premiered a new documentary series hosted by the anchor,Inside with Chris Cuomo, which focused on "stories affecting real people, in real towns and cities across America."[16]
In September 2018, he began hosting a two-hour weekday radio show "Let's Get After It" on theP.O.T.U.S. channel onSiriusXM.[17]
On August 13, 2019, inShelter Island, New York, Cuomo threatened to throw a heckler down a flight of stairs at a bar and chastised him with profanity-laced insults after the man called himFredo, in reference to the unglamorous fictional character fromThe Godfather novel andfilms. Cuomo told the man that the use of the name "Fredo" was equivalent to "then-word" for Italian-Americans,[18] which caused debate onTwitter about the assertion.[19][20] Cuomo addressed the incident publicly, tweeting his appreciation to his supporters but acknowledging that he "should be better than what [he] oppose[s]."[21]
While recovering from COVID-19 in early 2020, Chris Cuomo interviewed his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, on his CNN program.[22] After reports aboutsexual harassment allegations against his brother surfaced, Cuomo said on his program in March 2021 that he could not cover any issues regarding the allegations on the program, acknowledging his obvious conflict of interest.[23]
In May 2021, Cuomo was reported to have participated in strategic discussions to advise his brother on how to respond to the allegations. CNN called Cuomo's engagement in the conversations "inappropriate" but said that it would not take any disciplinary action against him.[24][25] Multiple CNN staffers said they were "vexed" by Cuomo's conduct and the violation ofjournalism ethics and standards.[26][27] Cuomo subsequently issued an apology and stated that advising his brother was a "mistake" that would "never happen again".[26] In August, Cuomo addressed his brother's impending resignation, reiterating he was not an adviser to Andrew and noting he had persuaded his brother to step down as governor.[28]
On November 29, 2021, the New York attorney general's office released documents that show Cuomo used hismedia sources to uncover information about his brother's known accusers and inquire about the possibility of new accusers who had yet to come forward publicly.[29][30] The documents also show that Cuomo helped formulate statements for Andrew and that Cuomo was actively in touch with a top aide to Andrew about future reports about Andrew's alleged misconduct.[31] The following day, Cuomo was suspended indefinitely from CNN.[32] Cuomo called his suspension "embarrassing" but said he understood "why some people feel the way they do about what I did".[33] Following his suspension, several conservative commentators defended Cuomo. These supporters includeSean Hannity,[34]Tucker Carlson,[35] andGreg Gutfeld.[36]
On December 4, after an internal review conducted by a law firm, CNN terminated Cuomo's employment and said they would investigate Cuomo's "involvement with his brother's defense".[37][38] Cuomo stated he never tried to influence his own network's coverage of his brother's sexual allegation problems.[39] In February 2022, Cuomo mentioned in a recorded interview that he "was going to kill everybody including myself" after his firing.[40]
In September 2021, Cuomo's former bossShelley Ross accused him of sexual harassment in aNew York Times op-ed. Stopping short of asking him to be fired from CNN, she said she would "like to see him journalistically repent".[41] Cuomo admitted to the incident, describing it as "not sexual in nature". He said he "apologized to her then, and I meant it".[42]
In December 2021,Debra Katz, the attorney for another former colleague of Cuomo's, informed CNN that her client had accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct.[4] The woman claimed that Cuomo invited her to his office for lunch and after the woman rejected Cuomo's sexual advances, Cuomo allegedly assaulted her.[43][44] Katz has since claimed that this accusation precipitated Cuomo's termination.[45]
On December 6, 2021, Cuomo announced he would be leaving his program on SiriusXM.[46]
On the same day, it was reported that Cuomo threatened to file a lawsuit against CNN to recover the $18 million of his remaining contract because network presidentJeff Zucker understood the details of Cuomo's involvement with his brother's defense.[47] Zucker has denied this was the case, and subsequently claimed in a virtual meeting with employees that he had reprimanded Cuomo in May, and that "Chris had gone further than he had told me and told other members of our senior executive team".[48]
On December 7, 2021,HarperCollins announced they would not be going forward in publishing Cuomo's book, originally titledDeep Denial in the fall of 2022. The book was to be an analysis of theCOVID-19 pandemic and thefirst presidency of Donald Trump.[49]
On March 16, 2022, Cuomo filed ademand for arbitration claiming $125 million in damages against Turner Services and CNN America. The filing claimed Cuomo's "journalistic integrity" was "unjustifiably smeared", making the chance to find similar work impossible. He was looking to recover his remaining salary and future wages forfeited for his reputation being damaged.[50]
On July 26, 2022, during an interview withDan Abrams onNewsNation, Cuomo announced that he would be hosting a new primetime program on theNexstar Media Group-owned channel later that year.[51]
The new series,Cuomo, premiered on October 3, 2022.[52] During the premiere, Cuomo stated that he had "learned lessons good and bad" since his firing from CNN, and that his new show would not be "typical", and would (as with the remainder of NewsNation's programming) aim to be more neutral and less partisan in its commentary and content, arguing that "extremes are not America's majority", and that "In politics what you ignore you often empower. And the right has made a mistake in its silence for too long. Ourelection wasnot stolen. Your Republican leaders know this."[53]
Among the interviews Cuomo gave in his first month with NewsNation includedKanye West, with whom Cuomo clashed over West's recent antisemitic comments.[54][55]
Cuomo began a podcast,The Chris Cuomo Project, on July 21, 2022.[56]
Cuomo has received multipleEmmy Award nominations. HisGood Morning America profile of the 12-year-old poetMattie Stepanek was recognized with a News Emmy, making him one of the youngest correspondents to receive the award.[3]
He has been awardedPolk andPeabody Awards for team coverage. His work has been recognized in the areas of breaking news, business news, and legal news, with theEdward R. Murrow Award for breaking news coverage, the 2005Gerald Loeb Award for Television Deadline business reporting for "Money for Nothing?",[57] and the American Bar AssociationSilver Gavel Award for investigating juvenile justice.[9][11]
In 2001, Cuomo marriedGotham magazine editor Cristina Greeven in aRoman Catholic ceremony inSouthampton, New York.[58] They reside inManhattan with their three children.[9][59] Cuomo also owns a home in Southampton.[60]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Cuomo announced on March 31, 2020, that he had been diagnosed withCOVID-19.[61] During his quarantine, he broadcast his usual weekday program from his home.[62] Cuomo later said he had ahallucination of his late father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, as a result of symptoms from the virus.[63] In 2024, Cuomo stated he has hadlong COVID since his infection in 2020.[64]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| |
| HUD Secretary | |
| Attorney General of New York | |
| Governor of New York | |
| Electoral history |
|
| Family |
|
| Political activities |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Books |
| |
| Family |
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
