Chris Cuomo claims to have walked away since his fall from CNN, but spent many of the last 90-minute interview licking his wounds after his unceremonious departure from cable television.
“I will never be who I used to be,” said the falling anchor to former Recent York Times journalist Charlie LeDuff and Karen Dumas in January 16 podcast No Bulls-t Newshour. “I used to be primary on probably the most powerful media platform on the planet.”
He groaned that he wasn’t “allowed to say goodbye [my show’s team]an office I used to be never allowed to scrub” and complained that his office supplies were shipped to him “in boxes with half a crack in them”.
Cuomo, 52, was removed by CNN in December 2021 after it was revealed that he helped his older brother, a disgraced former governor. Andrew Cuomo, undergo a series of sex scandals.
He called CNN “the perfect news organization on the planet,” but was furious when his former boss, former CNN president Jeff Zucker, kicked him out.
“He wasn’t lying about what he knew and what I did and didn’t do. I’ve never done anything that I even have to lie about,” Cuomo said. “I even have never done anything to control media coverage regarding my brother.”
Last 12 months, Cuomo began hosting a prime-time show on start-up cable channel NewsNation, where he picked up some tidbits – including an explosive interview with artist Ye, formerly Kanye West. But he has poor grades, especially in comparison with his previous perch, and has even claimed a recent time slot for any advantage.
“I will never be number one, 2, 3, 4, 5 on some bull media power list. I do not mind that,” Cuomo said.
When asked if he had more creative freedom on his recent show, Cuomo snapped that he had at all times been “on top of things” but due to his pounding on the news over the past 12 months, his “show is different.”
“I’m emotionally and mentally beaten and adjusted by what I have been through,” he said. “My agenda is different because I’m different, not because I used to be in some left-wing silo.”
He also complained that reporters didn’t reliably cover a 2019 viral video through which he was captured exploding at a heckler who called him “Fredo”, a demeaning reference to “The Godfather”, on Shelter Island.
“They called me Fredo [in front of] my 9 12 months old daughter, and all of the media reported it and none of them reported it. I ponder why,” he said. “Because being a bully takes my sting away.”