CNNâs media correspondent Brian Stelter says his former colleague Chris Cuomo is âtrying to burnâ the network âdownâ after it fired him last year.
On Wednesday, Stelter said, âCuomo was fired in December, and he is not going out quietly. He was fired, and there were reports that he wasnât going to get paid the millions of dollars that were going to be in the remainder of his contract.â
âSo, as a source said to me earlier today, he was trying to burn the place down. He was going to court trying to burn the place down and claiming that he had incriminating information about Zucker and Gollust. So if thatâs the case, if this is a domino that begins with Andrew Cuomo going down in the governorâs office, and then Chris Cuomo being fired from CNN, and then Jeff Zucker losing his job at CNN, that is a remarkable domino effect,â he added.
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In Dec. 2021, CNNannounced it suspended Cuomo after new details came to light about the extent of his involvement in helping former New Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his brother, respond to allegations of sexual harassment.
It later said it fired Cuomo after it retained a law firm to review information about his involvement in his brotherâs defense.
The New York Post reported that the former anchor was expected to file a lawsuit against the network if he did not receive at least $18 million to cover the remainder of his contract. However, a CNN insider told the Post the network had âno intention of paying Cuomo a penny.â
Stelterâs comments come after CNN President Jeff Zucker announced his resignation.
âAs part of the investigation into Chris Cuomoâs tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years. I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began, but I didnât. I was wrong,â Zucker wrote in a statement.
Allison Gollust, chief marketing officer at CNN, confirmed that she had a consensual relationship with Zucker.
Gollust is a former aide to Andrew Cuomo. She worked for the former governor for four months in 2012 and 2013.
Politico reports that during the networkâs investigation of Chris Cuomo, his legal team âraised issues about the relationship between Zucker and Gollust.â
âCuomoâs legal team asserted that Zucker was hypocritical to suggest Cuomo had a personal conflict of interest when the relationship with Gollust represented a potential conflict as well,â the outlet added.
