Some CNN Staffers 'Are Ticked Off' With Chris Cuomo, Brian Stelter Says

CNN ’s chief media correspondent Brian Stelter revealed on Tuesday how staffers at the network feel about host Chris Cuomo ’s informal advisory role to his older brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), amid the politician’s sexual harassment scandal.

Some employees are “mad at” and “ticked off” with the “Cuomo Prime Time” anchor over the conflict of interest, Stelter told “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert. Others, though, understand that “you can’t pick who your family members are,” he said.

Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that he’d resign after an investigation by the New York state attorney general found he’d sexually harassed multiple female staffers.

Chris Cuomo assisted his brother in crafting an initial response to the allegations. He later apologized for doing so. The news anchor was later fiercely criticized for not covering the sexual misconduct claims against his sibling because of a ban on himself covering his brother on air. But the ban was temporarily rescinded during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, another point of contention.

Chris Cuomo did not address the publication of the attorney general’s damning report last week during his show. This week, he is on a preplanned vacation.

Stelter confirmed reports about Chris Cuomo’s recent strategizing with his brother, saying he had “a source who says that Chris was on the phone with his brother this week.”

“Is your source Chris Cuomo?” Colbert cracked.

“He is not,” Stelter replied. “You’ve got to have boundaries. You’ve got to draw a line.”

“Why? He doesn’t,” Colbert fired back.

“I think he does actually,” Stelter responded.

“Really? What are the boundaries?” asked Colbert, noting how Cuomo “didn’t talk about his brother once the trouble started” and questioned “why didn’t they (CNN) rule that way when his brother was on pretty much every night during the COVID crisis? That seems like an odd conflict of rules.”

Stelter said it was “really complicated” and there was “no page for this” in the “journalism ethics book.”

It was “definitely awkward” for CNN, he added.

Watch the interview here: