Two weeks ago, Chris Cuomo was fired by CNN following reports that he’d been a lot more involved in his brother Andrew’s sexual harassment defense than he’d claimed. The revelations emerged months after the former New York governor resigned in disgrace, leading to his suspension and later dismissal, which left him “livid.” Now we’re getting some insight into how the news affected his colleagues.
Anderson Cooper went on The Late Show Thursday, and host Stephen Colbert made sure to ask him about his former co-worker and whether letting him go was “the right thing to do.”
“I don’t want anything bad to happen to somebody who’s a colleague and somebody who is a friend of mine, and I feel terrible for him and for his family,” Cooper replied. “That being said, look, journalists have strict ethics and strict rules that we are to abide by, and if you don’t abide by them, there are repercussions. And I wish Chris the best, and I’m sorry for how all of this played out, and I hate this for his family. But this is — it’s a business with very big responsibilities, and there are repercussions.”
Colbert also asked Cooper if he knew about the firing before it was made public. “No, no. Of course not,” Cooper said. “They would have a staff meeting and say like, ‘Oh we’re going to do this thing, but don’t tell anybody’?”
Cooper was also asked if he’d spoken about Cuomo’s termination with other CNN folks, such as Don Lemon. He said he hadn’t talked to Lemon, but he did talk to someone else.
“You know, the first call after I got the news was from Andy Cohen, who was like, ‘Do you think I could get that show?’ I was like, ‘Andy, you’ve got enough real estate in television,’” Cooper said. “Andy believes he is fully qualified to host a presidential debate because he hosts the Housewives reunion.”
You can watch Cooper’s Late Show appearance in the video above.
(Via THR)