Chris Cuomo.Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty
A former ABC producer says that Chris Cuomo sexually harassed her back in 2005, with the claims coming just over a month after his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, resigned in the wake of hisown sexual harassment scandalthis year. Chris has acknowledged that the incident occurred.
Shelley Ross wrote in anew op-edforThe New York Timesthat Chris — now 51 and currently a primetime anchor on CNN — “greeted me with a strong bear hug while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock” at a going-away party for an ABC News coworker at a bar in 2005. Her husband was also in attendance at the party 16 years ago.
Ross alleged that Chris told her in the moment, “I can do this now that you’re no longer my boss,” to which she said she responded, “No you can’t,” while “pushing him off me at the chest while stepping back, revealing my husband, who had seen the entire episode at close range. We quickly left.”
She also claimed that Chris emailed her hours after the incident to write to her: “Now that I think of it … I am ashamed,” apologizing for “even putting you in such a position.”
“I never thought that Mr. Cuomo’s behavior was sexual in nature. Whether he understood it at the time or not, his form of sexual harassment was a hostile act meant to diminish and belittle his female former boss in front of the staff,” she wrote.
Andrew Cuomo, Chris Cuomo.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
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Explaining that she has “no grudge” against Chris and that she is “not looking for him to lose his job,” Ross said seeing Chris' handling and assistance in his politician brother’s harassment scandal made her want to see “accountability.”
Afterreportsrevealed he advised his brother Andrew, 63, on sexual harassment allegations, Chris admitted on air in May that it was a “mistake.”
RELATED VIDEO: Chris Cuomo Addresses His Silence on Brother Andrew Cuomo’s Resignation
“So, I never reported on this scandal, and when it happened, I tried to be there for my brother,” hetold his audienceonCuomo Prime Timeat the time.
“I’m not an advisor. I’m a brother. I wasn’t in control of anything. I was there to listen and offer my take,” he continued. “And my advice to my brother was simple and consistent: ‘Own what you did. Tell people what you’ll do to be better. Be contrite. And finally, accept that it doesn’t matter what you intended. What matters is how your actions and words were perceived.’ And yes, while it was something I never imagined ever having to do, I did urge my brother to resign when the time came.”
source: people.com
