A woman who made sexual harassment charges against former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was "disgusted" by what she considered hypocrisy and trying to discredit women who made similar charges against his brother

Chris Cuomo was suspended by CNN because of new details in his brother’s investigation

NEW YORK-A woman who made sexual harassment charges against former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, her lawyer said on Sunday that she felt he was hypocritical and tried to discredit women who made similar accusations against his brother. disgust".

Soon after CNN fired the "Cuomo Primetime" anchor on Saturday night, the woman's complaint became widely known. Chris Cuomo has been criticized for violating journalistic ethics in trying to help his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo defeat his own allegations of harassment.

The woman who chose to remain anonymous filed the charges against Chris Cuomo with CNN through her lawyer Debra Katz on Wednesday.

Katz did not provide any details about the alleged behavior, which is believed to have occurred before Cuomo joined CNN in 2013. Before that, he worked at ABC News.

Chris Cuomo said through a spokesperson that these allegations are untrue. "If the purpose of making these false and uncensored allegations is to get Mr. Cuomo to be punished by CNN, that could explain his unprovoked dismissal," the spokesperson said.

Katz also linked Cuomo’s dismissal to the allegations, saying in a statement, “CNN took prompt action on my client’s complaint and fired Mr. Cuomo.”

CNN suspended his duties on Tuesday after learning that Cuomo had supported his brother's actions more extensively than previously known through documents issued by the New York Attorney General. CNN hired a law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore to investigate Cuomo's behavior, and then determined that the network had reason to fire him.

Due to new allegations of misconduct, the network has no interest in another investigation. CNN head Jeff Zucker notified Cuomo of the dismissal on Saturday.

Katz said in a statement on Sunday that her client was motivated by Cummer’s statement on the allegations against his brother, and he was deeply concerned about sexual misconduct. She said the woman also believes that Cuomo "played an active role in trying to slander the women who accused his brother."

"Hearing Chris Cuomo's hypocritical remarks,​​disgusted by his efforts to discredit these women, my client hired a lawyer to report his serious sexual misconduct to CNN," the lawyer said.

The new allegations of misconduct came after veteran television director Shelley Ross wrote a column for The New York Times in September. The column stated that 16 years ago, Chris Cuomo reported on their They both fumbled for her at a party while working for ABC News. Cuomo told the newspaper: "I apologized to her at the time, I was serious."

In response to criticism of his brother’s behavior, Cuomo said that he just wanted to help him-shortly after Andrew Cuomo’s resignation in August, he told his CNN audience that “being in this business and coming from a political family has never been An easy task."

"I have never attacked, nor have I encouraged anyone to attack any women who have come forward," Cuomo said in the air. "I never called the media about my brother's situation."

However, in a new e-mail issued by the New York Attorney General in March last year, Cuomo told an aide of his brother, "I have a clue about the wedding girl." This refers to a woman who said in a news report, When they met at the wedding, how the governor touched her made her feel uncomfortable.

Chris Cuomo explained to the investigators of Attorney General Letia James that a "source" called him and suggested that the plaintiff might have "endured" the allegations. He told the matter to his brother's assistants, but they told him that the woman expressed her discomfort shortly after the incident.

Cuomo also testified to investigators—a month before he told CNN viewers that he had not called the media about his brother—he privately contacted media figures to see if there were other accusers.

Cuomo has stated that he has never tried to influence reports of his brother's problems on his own network, and there is no evidence that he did so.

His dismissal left a hole in CNN's weekend lineup. Even when competing with Fox News Channel’s industry heavyweights Sean Hannity and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddor at the same time period, Cuomo is also the highest-rated figure on CNN.

Michael Smerconish will replace him this week.

Associated Press reporter David Porter contributed to this report.

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