Former ABC News executive says Chris Cuomo harassed her

By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) — A tv enforcement who accused Chris Cuomo of groping her astatine a enactment 16 years agone says the CNN anchor needs a nationalist acquisition astir intersexual harassment and if helium did that, “he’d beryllium a leader alternatively of a cad.”

The executive, Shelley Ross, said Friday she’s acrophobic that Cuomo’s absorption to her communicative and his relation advising his brother, erstwhile New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, indicates that he’s learned small astir harassment and what it does to women.

“I don’t privation to spot anybody suffer their job,” Ross told The Associated Press. “I privation to spot radical larn and to marque the quality concern a amended spot and the workplace a amended place.”

Her communicative represented different embarrassment for the big of “Cuomo Prime Time,” mostly the network’s top-rated show. He has been criticized for his relation advising his brother, Andrew Cuomo, who resigned arsenic New York politician past period implicit allegations of intersexual harassment from aggregate women.

Cuomo did not code the substance connected his amusement Friday night.

Ross said successful an sentiment portion successful The New York Times connected Friday that Chris Cuomo had greeted her astatine a going-away enactment successful 2005 with a carnivore hug “while lowering 1 manus to firmly drawback and compression the feature of my buttock.”

Ross said Cuomo told her, “I tin bash this present that you’re nary longer my boss,” and she responded, “No you can’t,” pushing him disconnected portion stepping backmost to uncover her husband, who saw the full thing.

In an interview, Ross called it an effort to diminish and belittle a pistillate enforcement successful beforehand of her staff.

Cuomo sent an apologetic email to Ross soon afterward saying helium was “ashamed.”

Asked for comment, Cuomo told the Times, “As Shelley acknowledges, our enactment was not intersexual successful nature. It happened 16 years agone successful a nationalist mounting erstwhile she was a apical enforcement astatine ABC. I apologized to her then, and I meant it.” CNN had nary further remark connected Friday.

“There was nary interaction,” said Ross, erstwhile enforcement shaper of the newsmagazine “Primetime Live.” “An enactment has a premise that 2 radical are progressive successful something. I did not privation to beryllium groped.”

“I didn’t cognize if helium had changed from the years we worked together,” she added, “and I spot from the effect that helium hasn’t.”

Cuomo took a scheduled time disconnected Friday from his SiriusXM vigor show, the work said. CNN referred reporters to Cuomo’s connection to the newspaper.

Ross said she was motivated to archer her communicative successful portion due to the fact that of the fallout faced by immoderate radical who had advised the erstwhile governor. They included the resignations of Roberta Kaplan and Tina Tchen, 2 figures successful the Time’s Up organization, and Alphonso David, who was ousted arsenic president of the Human Rights Campaign.

CNN has not commented publically astir findings from a New York lawyer general’s study astir Chris Cuomo being progressive successful discussions with his brother’s advisers astir however to respond to the archetypal reports of harassment allegations. Such engagement successful authorities is mostly considered off-limits for journalists.

Chris Cuomo told CNN viewers past period that helium had advised his member to beryllium contrite.

“I was determination to perceive and connection my take,” Cuomo said. “And my proposal to my member was elemental and accordant — ain what you did, archer radical what you’ll effort to bash to beryllium better, beryllium contrite. Finally, judge that it doesn’t substance what you intended, what matters is however your actions and your words are perceived.”

He yet advised his brother, who has denied touching immoderate women inappropriately, to resign. But the Washington Post reported that, erstwhile charges were archetypal revealed past winter, Chris Cuomo had advised Andrew to instrumentality a defiant presumption and not resign.

The study by New York Attorney General Letitia James that precipitated the governor’s resignation included an email Chris Cuomo sent to his brother’s advisers past February astir a suggested nationalist connection that the New York Democrat should make.

Ross said successful her effort successful the Times that Chris Cuomo should person been ashamed for his behaviour with her, “But my question contiguous is the aforesaid arsenic it was then: Was helium ashamed of what helium did, oregon was helium embarrassed due to the fact that my hubby saw it?”

She wrote that she sees Cuomo’s apology arsenic “an effort to supply himself with ineligible and motivation sum to evade accountability.”

Ross has written antecedently of being sexually harassed by Roger Ailes, who was ousted from Fox News Channel implicit harassment complaints and died successful 2017.

Recounting the 1981 brushwood successful her New York Times piece, Ross said Ailes apologized to her for insisting connected a “sexual alliance” arsenic a information of a pending occupation connection astatine NBC’s “Tomorrow” show. Ross said she accepted Ailes’ apology, naively reasoning she could “help betterment the workplace 1 predator astatine a time.”

She suggested a bid of municipality hallway meetings titled “The Continuing Education of Chris Cuomo.”

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This communicative has been corrected to amusement that the programme Cuomo hosts is called “Cuomo Prime Time,” not “CNN Prime Time.”