CNN fires Chris Cuomo

The New York Times

The Cuomo Prime Time anchor was terminated today, four days after he was suspended after text messages and new testimony released by New York's attorney general's office revealed his very active and deep involvement in helping his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fend off sexual harassment allegations, including using his media sources to find out information on his brother's accusers. “Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense,” CNN said in a statement on Saturday. “We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately. While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.” In a memo to employees, CNN president Jeff Zucker said: "Today, I let Chris Cuomo know that we are ending his employment at CNN. It goes without saying that these decisions are not easy, and there are a lot of complex factors involved. But as always it was important to me to be upfront with each of you." When Cuomo's involvement in his brother's strategizing first came to light in May, CNN called his actions "inappropriate" but opted not to discipline him for breaching journalistic ethics. Cuomo's ouster comes less than four months after his brother was forced to step down as New York governor over the sexual harassment allegations. In response to his firing, Chris Cuomo posted the following statement on Twitter: "This is not how I want my time at CNN to end but I have already told you why and how I helped my brother. So let me now say as disappointing as this is, I could not be more proud of the team at Cuomo Prime Time and the work we did as CNN’s #1 show in the most competitive time slot. I owe them all and will miss that group of special people who did really important work." UPDATE: The law firm CNN hired to investigate Cuomo found discrepancies between what he told CNN employees and the records from the New York Attorney General's office.

• UPDATE: Chris Cuomo's firing came three days after he was accused of sexual misconduct: "On Wednesday, Debra S. Katz, a prominent employment lawyer, informed CNN of a client with an allegation of sexual misconduct against Chris Cuomo," reports The New York Times. "Ms. Katz said in a statement on Saturday that the allegation against the anchor, which was made by a former junior colleague at another network, was 'unrelated to the Gov. Andrew Cuomo matter.' It was not fully clear what role the allegation played in CNN’s decision to dismiss Mr. Cuomo. Ms. Katz is also the lawyer for Charlotte Bennett, a onetime aide to Andrew Cuomo who accused the former governor in February of sexual harassment." A CNN spokesperson said of the allegation: “Based on the report we received regarding Chris’s conduct with his brother’s defense, we had cause to terminate. When new allegations came to us this week, we took them seriously, and saw no reason to delay taking immediate action.” Asked to comment, Cuomo's spokesperson said: “These apparently anonymous allegations are not true.”