Chris Cuomo, a CNN anchor, is now under the spotlight for sexually harassing Shelley Ross, his former boss when he was at ABC News.
According to Ross, back in 2005 Cuomo “walked toward me and greeted me with a strong bear hug while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock,” at a work function. In her piece via the New York Times, Ross also included an email from Cuomo where he apologized for his behavior that night.
Cuomo’s brother — former governor of New York — resigned last month from his position after being accused of sexual harassment as well.
Here’s a snippet of Ross’ story:
“At the time, I was the executive producer of an ABC entertainment special, but I was Mr. Cuomo’s executive producer at ‘Primetime Live’ just before that.I was at the party with my husband, who sat behind me on an ottoman sipping his Diet Coke as I spoke with work friends. When Mr. Cuomo entered the Upper West Side bar, he walked toward me and greeted me with a strong bear hug while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock.”
A part of the email Cuomo’s email admitting what he did and apologizing:
“[T]hough my hearty greeting was a function of being glad to see you … christian slater got arrested for a (kind of) similar act, (though borne of an alleged negative intent, unlike my own)…and as a husband I can empathize with not liking to see my wife patted as such,” he wrote.”
But despite this apology, Ross stated in her NY Times piece, she isn’t buying it.
“Mr. Cuomo may say this is a sincere apology. I’ve always seen it as an attempt to provide himself with legal and moral coverage to evade accountability.”
“As Shelley acknowledges, our interaction was not sexual in nature,” Cuomo stated on his apology. “It happened 16 years ago in a public setting when she was a top executive at ABC. I apologized to her then, and I meant it,” Cuomo said.
Ross did state she is not looking for Cuomo to lose his job at CNN but instead to repent for his actions.
“I’m not asking for Mr. Cuomo to become the next casualty in this continuing terrible story. I hope he stays at CNN forever if he chooses. I would, however, like to see him journalistically repent: agree on air to study the impact of sexism, harassment and gender bias in the workplace, including his own, and then report on it,” Ross shared. “He could host a series of live town hall meetings, with documentary footage, produced by women with expert consultants. Call it ‘The Continuing Education of Chris Cuomo’ and make this a watershed moment instead of another stain on the career of one more powerful male news anchor.”
At the time of this article, no action has been taken in regard to Cuomo apologizing on air of CNN suspending or firing him.
