Before this week, I had never heard anybody refer to CNN anchor Chris Cuomo as “Fredo,” likening him to the runt of the Corleone litter in The Godfather. And after this week, I’ll never think of that guy as anybody but Fredo. He made sure of that himself.
A man in NY yesterday approached CNN’s Chris Cuomo and called him “Fredo”
Cuomo: “You’re going to have a problem”
Man: “What are you going to do about it?”
Cuomo: “I’ll fuckin ruin your shit. I’ll fucking throw you down these stairs”
Credit: “THAT’S THE POINT with Brandon” pic.twitter.com/4iWwzaSQpF
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) August 13, 2019
If that made you cringe, you’re not alone. Publicly, CNN employees have humiliated themselves by insisting “Fredo” is some sort of racial slur. But inside the building, they’re about as fond of Cuomo as the rest of us are.
Insiders say that — while CNN brass stood by Chris Cuomo after he was caught on camera threatening a man who called him “Fredo” — the newsroom rank and file was “embarrassed” by the blowup…
One insider said they personally thought the run-in was “great” and that Cuomo would get a pass from higher-ups because “he’s BFFs with [CNN president Jeff] Zucker.” Another said the newsroom chatter was that “everyone thinks it’s fine to stand up to trolls, but it escalated way past where it needed to.” While they said Cuomo generally has a good reputation with the staff, “It was embarrassing.” They added, “It was an unforced error, and he gave the right — and the president — ammunition to use against him and CNN.”
Yeah, this hard evidence of Fredo’s anger-management problems is indeed inconvenient. It does give his opponents ammunition. Facts are funny that way.
Fredo Prime Time will be back next week. Will anybody tune in to watch him explain himself? Or will they all watch Hannity instead?
(That’s a rhetorical question.)
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