CNN silent on Chris Cuomo sexual harassment allegation as scandal grows

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Media top headlines September 28

In media news today, Chris Cuomo's sexual harassment accuser says the CNN host hasn't changed since groping her, 'The View' addresses their COVID testing fiasco, and sources say a female CNN producer exited 'Cuomo Prime Time' after feeling 'threatened' by the namesake anchor

CNN remains mum on a sexual harassment allegation levied against Chris Cuomo as the scandal grows. 

Former ABC News executive producer Shelley Ross accused Cuomo of squeezing the cheek of her buttock in 2005 without her permission on Friday. She also produced an email where Cuomo appeared to admit to the incident and apologize for his behavior. 

CNN has kept viewers in the dark, failing to cover the story on air. The "Cuomo Prime Time" namesake didn’t inform his viewers of the allegation and the network has yet to issue a public statement. CNN’s in-house media pundit Brian Stelter also declined to mention the story on his Sunday show that covers the media industry, although he made a brief mention in his team’s media newsletter. 

CNN'S CHRIS CUOMO ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY HARASSING FEMALE PRODUCER WHILE AT ABC NEWS

A veteran television journalist accused CNN's Chris Cuomo on Friday of once sexually harassing her when they worked together at ABC News.

Washington Post media blogger Erik Wemple noted that CNN isn’t exactly a quiet place but a "hush has settled in at the network over journalist Shelley Ross’s claim" that Cuomo inappropriately touched her. Cuomo reiterated his apology to Ross in a statement to the Times but hasn’t mentioned it publicly otherwise. 

"It looks as if CNN is going to leave the matter there. Thus far, the network’s PR operation has yet to issue a statement about how the company views the matter," Wemple wrote, adding that CNN has commented on other Cuomo scandals related to journalism ethics. 

"If CNN can speak up — however tepidly — about journalism ethics, can’t it offer even a token statement about sexual harassment? Surely the network would be exploding with commentary if the same claim surfaced against a host on a certain competing cable-news network," Wemple wrote. 

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

CHRIS CUOMO SEXUAL HARASSMENT ACCUSER: CNN HOST HASN’T CHANGED SINCE HE ‘GROPED’ ME

Meanwhile, Ross expected CNN’s most-watched host to have evolved since the incident occurred, but feels his response to her essay proves he’s "no more enlightened" today than he was at the time of the inappropriate touching.

"I was hoping that in 15, 16 years that he had changed, but he's no more enlightened today than he was then, as demonstrated by his response," Ross told Insider, disagreeing with the notion they had an "interaction."

The "Cuomo Prime Time" namesake didn’t inform his viewers of the allegation and the network is yet to issue a public statement.  (CNN)

On Monday, the New York Post first reported that Cuomo’s female executive producer quit the show last year after feeling "threatened" by the anchor. 

Melanie Buck headed the network's most-watched program from April 2018 to her sudden departure in March 2020 after she "begged" for a transfer, Page Six first reported. 

"A CNN insider confirmed Buck went to CNN boss Jeff Zucker and asked to be taken off Cuomo’s show and moved to another department, which he agreed to," Page Six reported. "The insider denied rumors that Buck was given a significant pay-off to stay silent over her spat with the agitable anchor."

FEMALE CNN PRODUCER EXITED 'CUOMO PRIME TIME' IN 2020 AFTER FEELING 'THREATENED' BY ANCHOR, SOURCES SAY

Fox News confirmed that Buck felt "threatened" by Cuomo. 

A former CNN insider heard rumors about the tense relationship between Buck and Cuomo, telling Fox News Digital the producer perceived a "ruin your career type of threat" from the anchor. 

In a statement to Page Six, Buck pointed to "significant differences" she had with Cuomo regarding the direction of "Cuomo Prime Time" and confirmed she had "asked to leave the show," adding she has "moved on" from her stint in primetime and is "looking forward" as an executive producer of morning live programming on CNN's recently-announced streaming service, CNN+. 

The former CNN insider shed light on those "significant differences" between the two. According to the source, Buck wanted "Cuomo Prime Time" to pursue more long-form interviews while Cuomo was set on pursuing more opinion programming. 

CHRIS CUOMO EMAIL ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT INCIDENT CONTRADICTS PREVIOUS DENIAL ON MICHAEL COHEN TAPE

Neither Buck nor CNN immediately responded to Fox News' requests for comment. 

Cuomo has been creating negative headlines for CNN on a regular basis. The CNN host also came under fire this year for giving private advice to his brother then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D., during his sexual harassment scandal. A report from New York Attorney General Letitia James noted the CNN host was one of the trusted outside confidants whose commitment to protecting the governor contributed to Albany's "toxic" workplace culture. Gov. Cuomo resigned from office last month.

CNN allowed Chris Cuomo to interview his brother multiple times during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. 

He was widely mocked for conducting a series of playful interviews with his big brother at the height of the pandemic while the governor’s state was in crisis. The two of them would chide each other's looks, perform prop comedy and bicker over their affection for their mother, but the anchor would also give the governor a platform to tout his leadership amid the pandemic. The interviews occurred as critics scolded the CNN host for ignoring the state's COVID nursing home crisis before he finally lobbed a softball question about it after skipping it during multiple appearances.

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Earlier this year, it was revealed that Chris Cuomo was a beneficiary of the Cuomo administration as he received prioritized COVID testing in the early months of the pandemic as ordinary New Yorkers struggled.

The younger Cuomo was diagnosed with the virus in March 2020. It is unknown if the positive COVID test he took was funded by himself, his employer or New York taxpayers. 

Amid his recovery in April, he was caught breaking quarantine and was seen outside on another property, which was in clear violation of his brother's COVID guidelines. That led to an altercation between the anchor and the bicyclist who called him out and later filed a police report. Also in April, the CNN anchor bizarrely staged his own re-emergence from the basement of his Hamptons home after his outdoor scuffle was widely reported. 

Fox News’ David Rutz contributed to this report.