Chris Cuomo saga: CNN's Don Lemon ignores firing of disgraced bestie

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CNN anchor Don Lemon offered zero acknowledgment of his fallen primetime bestie Chris Cuomo, who was fired on Saturday after the network learned of a new sexual misconduct allegation against him. 

Lemon and Cuomo were famously gushy together on-air during their nightly handoffs, which came to an abrupt end last week when CNN announced it had suspended the "Cuomo Prime Time" host over his involvement in his brother's scandals. 

On Monday, Lemon appeared to have already moved on, doing a friendly handoff with CNN host Michael Smerconish, who is filling Cuomo's vacant time slot for the week, now dubbed "CNN Tonight." 

Following the handoff, Lemon made no mention of Cuomo in his two hours of programming. 

 

Lemon's approach (or lack thereof) to the Cuomo drama on Monday was quite the opposite to the one he had a week ago following the damning revelations from the New York Attorney General's office.

After Cuomo spent the hour avoiding the controversy, Lemon offered his colleague a strong endorsement of his character. 

"I am grateful for your friendship and your love," Lemon told Cuomo. "I think you are fantastic, one of the kindest people I know on this planet."

"There you go. I meant every word," Lemon added. 

Little did he know that would be the final on-air handoff with Cuomo. 

During their handoffs, Lemon and Cuomo would talk about the latest headlines and frequently offer words of affection for one another. Their chummy on-air friendship even inspired their weekly "Handoff" podcast, which is presumably discontinued. 

CNN announced on Saturday it had "effective immediately" terminated Cuomo, who had already been placed on an indefinite suspension for his involvement in his brother's scandals, after CNN learned of "additional information" that expedited Cuomo's firing. 

"Reliable Sources" host Brian Stelter confirmed on Sunday that the "additional information" CNN had referenced was a sexual misconduct allegation that was brought to the network's attention by the accuser's attorney, Debra Katz.  

According to Katz, her client is a "former junior colleague" from another network, which Stelter asserted was ABC News. Cuomo had worked at ABC News from 2006-2013 before joining CNN. Cuomo has denied the new allegations. 

Notably, Katz also represents Charlotte Bennett, the second woman to accuse now-ousted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment.  

The younger Cuomo was previously accused of sexual harassment by veteran TV producer Shelley Ross, who came forward in September in a guest essay from The New York Times alleging Cuomo squeezed her buttock at a 2005 event while the two of them worked at ABC News. Ross provided a copy of the email Cuomo sent to there at the time apologizing for his actions. 

The fallen CNN star also announced Monday that he was ending his radio show on SiriusXM. 

(Shelley Ross/Getty Images)

The beginning of the end for Chris Cuomo at CNN began Monday when the New York Attorney General's office released documents from its sexual harassment investigation into ousted Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, revealing the anchor was far more involved in helping his brother than he publicly acknowledged. 

Transcripts from his interview with investigators show the CNN star admitting he would reach out to media sources to find out about new accusers who have yet to come forward publicly. 

"When asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out," Cuomo told investigators. 

CNN TERMINATES CHRIS CUOMO ‘EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY’

Cuomo's admission contradicts what he told CNN viewers in August when he claimed, "I never made calls to the press about my brother's situation."

Three days after The New York Times broke the story about Anna Ruch, who alleged the governor sexually harassed her at a 2019 wedding reception, the CNN anchor texted top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, "I have a lead on the wedding girl." 

CNN’s Chris Cuomo performed prop comedy with his brother New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a widely panned segment in 2020.  (CNN)

In another exchange, DeRosa texted to Cuomo, "Rumor going around from politico 1-2 more ppl coming out tomorrow," then asking him "Can u check your sources?" 

Cuomo replied "on it," later writing back "No one has heard that yet."

The "Cuomo Prime Time" host snooped into the progress of Ronan Farrow’s reporting about his brother and relayed it to the governor's inner circle.

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He admitted to contacting colleagues of Farrow for updates but claimed it was simply "business-as-usual" to employ such methods. Text messages released by state investigators showed DeRosa asking about "intel" the CNN anchor had about Farrow's report on March 15, to which he replied it wasn't ready for publication. Farrow's story was eventually published on March 18. 

Additionally, the transcript from investigators' interview with Democratic strategist and Andrew Cuomo ally Lis Smith showed Chris Cuomo had forwarded her documents regarding the governor's second accuser Charlotte Bennett and her "time in college."