CNN staffers are angry at prime time star Chris Cuomo for advising his brother on how to beat back allegations of sexual harassment, according to the network's media reporter.
Brian Stelter made the revelation while defending his network's coverage of the scandal, saying that it was management's decision to bar Chris from talking about NY Governor brother Andrew's alleged sexual harassment of at least 11 women.
He insisted that CNN had devoted plenty of airtime to the scandal - although the network sparked fury after insisting it was reasonable not to mention the sexual harassment on its most watched show - Cuomo Prime Time.
The network was also condemned after its most popular hosts ignored a report published in March which eviscerated his handling of the COVID crisis in nursing homes.
That shunned report also highlighted Andrew Cuomo's attempts to obfuscate a probe into why he forced the facilities to accept infected residents from hospitals, with 15,000 elderly people dying of the virus as a result.
‘Behind closed doors, are people mad at him?’ talk show host Stephen Colbert asked Stelter on his show Tuesday.
‘Is he in trouble?’
To which Stelter replied: 'Some people are mad at him.'
He also confirmed a New York Times report which claimed that Chris Cuomo advised his brother to resign.
'I also have a source who says that Chris was on the phone with his brother this week,' Stelter said.
'Is your source Chris Cuomo?' Colbert asked.
'He is not,' Stelter replied. 'You’ve got to have boundaries. You've got to draw a line.'
To which Colbert replied: 'Why? He doesn't!'
'I think he does actually,' Stelter said as the live audience reacted.
‘I don’t know about the governor. I think Chris does.’
Colbert then pressed Stelter even further.
‘Really?’ he asked. ‘What are the boundaries?’
Stelter responded that CNN management told Chris Cuomo in May that he was not to speak to his brother’s aides about strategy, though it was understood that the brothers would speak to each other directly.
The media journalist added that CNN management also barred Chris Cuomo from talking about his brother on the air.
Colber then pointed out that CNN had an ‘odd conflict of rules’ in that it didn’t allow Chris Cuomo to discuss his brother when he was embroiled in scandal but did allow him to have the governor on the air during the pandemic.
Stelter defended his network, saying that they were in uncharted waters.
‘If we open up the journalism ethics book, there’s no page for this,’ Stelter said.
The pandemic, he said, presented ‘the craziest set of circumstances you could imagine - a governor and a brother in these high profile jobs.’
‘This was definitely awkward for CNN, though.’
Stelter added that other CNN talent were not deterred from covering the governor’s scandal.
‘We covered the story on air as we would any other story. Ultimately, isn’t that what matters?’ he said.
Stelter, CNN’s in-house media reporter, appeared on Colbert’s The Late Show on CBS on Tuesday - just hours after Andrew Cuomo announced that he was resigning.
Colbert asked Stelter how the resignation would impact the governor’s brother, Cuomo Prime Time host Chris Cuomo.
The network is facing calls to fire him after it was learned he helped his brother, the governor, strategize against the women who accused him of sexual harassment.
A report by New York State Attorney General Letitia James found that Chris Cuomo was part of his brother’s inner circle at the same time he was barred by his network from talking about the scandals linked to Andrew Cuomo.
Stephen Colbert on Tuesday grilled CNN’s Brian Stelter (above) on why his network allowed Chris Cuomo to interview his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, during the COVID crisis but not during the sex pest scandal that forced him to resign
Colbert asked Stelter how the resignation would impact the governor’s brother, Cuomo Prime Time host Chris Cuomo (right). The network is facing calls to fire him after it was learned he helped his brother, the governor, strategize against the women who accused him of sexual harassment. Governor Andrew Cuomo (left) and Chris Cuomo (right) are pictured in 2018
CNN star Chris Cuomo (left) on Tuesday refused to answer questions about whether he advised his brother to resign even though a report claimed he did, in fact, defy his network’ ban and encouraged the scandal-plagued Governor Andrew Cuomo (right) to quit
The embattled host of Cuomo Prime Time, who is on vacation this week, was spotted by a Fox News.com reporter at Sag Harbor Yacht Yard on the eastern end of Long Island on the same day that the governor announced his resignation
In Sag Harbor on Tuesday, Chris Cuomo, who was seen wearing a visor hat and sunglasses while looking relaxed in a blue t-shirt and shorts, stepped off his speedboat, Heartstrong
Chris Cuomo got into his pickup truck and drove off. He reportedly spent up to five hours on his boat
The AG's report named Chris, who makes $5million-a-year-at CNN, as one of his brother's advisers and told how he'd helped Andrew write statements in response to the allegations of 11 women.
He wanted to make sure he sounded 'contrite' enough, according to the report.
Media pundits claim his conduct has been unprofessional and that his generally inappropriate working relationship with his brother needs to come to an end.
Some have pointed to the fact that CNN VP of Communications, Allison Gollust, used to work for Governor Cuomo as his communications director.
She joined his team in 2013 after working with CNN President Jeff Zucker at NBC for 15 years.
Gollust only spent four months on the Governor's team then went to CNN to reunite professionally with Zucker.
In February, the network banned Chris from interviewing his brother on the air after Andrew's administration was accused of covering up the true number of deaths in nursing homes caused by COVID-19.
The network is said to have offered Chris temporary leave to help advise his brother on the crisis that has now destroyed Andrew's career, although he turned down their suggestion, the Times reported.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo walks with his daughter Michaela, 23, to a helicopter at the heliport in Lower Manhattan shortly after announcing his resignation on Tuesday, a week after being dubbed a serial sexual harasser by Attorney General Letitia James
Michaela placed her hand on her father's back as they made their way to the helicopter, moments after his resignation
Last year, the governor appeared on his brother’s show at least 10 times during which the CNN host heaped lavish praise on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In May, Chris apologized on the air after it was reported that he had offered his brother advice on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations.
CNN did not discipline its star host, though the network acknowledged his actions were 'inappropriate.'
Stelter is the host of CNN's Reliable Sources, a weekly Sunday morning program devoted to media criticism.
On the most recent broadcast, he admitted the 'optics' of banning Chris Cuomo from talking about sex pest claims made against his brother are a 'problem' and says Chris's show could be canceled if viewers turn off over the scandal.
Cuomo was joined by his daughters Michaela, 23, and Mariah, 26 (center). His other 26-year-old daughter Cara was not there. Melissa DeRosa, his fiercest aide who quit on Sunday, was also with him (far left)
Cuomo was joined by his two top aides, Melissa DeRosa - who resigned on Sunday - and Stephanie Benton, who was pictured inside the Executive Mansion with him earlier this week
Stephanie Benton, another of Cuomo's aides, was with him on Tuesday too. She is shown in red, with Michaela (far left), Melissa DeRosa (far right) and Mariah, one of his other daughters (center in black floral dress)
Speaking in a six minute monologue Sunday, Stelter confirmed that Chris has been banned from discussing his brother on his nightly Prime Time show, and that CNN staff were divided at over the scandal, which saw Chris advise Andrew on how to response to claims made against him by 11 women.
That number has now jumped to 13.
'Management has been clear about its position: he is not covering the governor on TV, period,' Stelter said. 'He is not talking about it at all.'
Stelter also defended the decision not to suspend Chris - who he insisted is taking a long-planned vacation from Monday, in a bid to shoot down rumors that his colleague has been 'canceled' when he disappears from screens.
'Some critics say he should have been suspended or even fired. But I'm going to level with you. Telling a well off host to hang out by the pool for a couple of weeks is not a real punishment,' he explained.
'It's BS when Fox sends a host off on vacation during a scandal. Scolding a host in public, saying what they did was inappropriate. That is an actual punishment.'
The 51 year-old host of Cuomo Prime Time was spotted in Sag Harbor on Tuesday.
Chris was approached by a Fox News.com reporter and hit with a flurry of questions as he disembarked his boat and prepared to head home.
Cuomo spoke from New York City. He has been hiding out in Albany since last week, when the Attorney General's report was released
After docking the boat at the slip, the CNN host walked toward his pickup truck. A Fox News reporter waited nearby and asked him if he spoke to his brother.
‘Of course I have,’ Chris replied.
‘Did you advise him to step down?’ Fox News asked the CNN host. Chris did not reply.
In response to another question, Chris told the reporter that his brother would be at the Sag Harbor Yacht Yard in ‘five minutes, if you wait around.’
Off camera, Chris is reported to have told the Fox News reporter that he could have him arrested.
‘I think you have a job, and I’m gonna let you do it,’ Chris said as he walked toward his truck.
The reporter continued to ask Chris several questions, including whether he was continuing to advise Andrew, and whether that constituted an ethical conflict.
CNN said that the host is on a pre-planned vacation this week celebrating his birthday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Andrew announced his resignation over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations in a fall from grace a year after he was widely hailed nationally for his detailed daily briefings and leadership during some of the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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