The Ball's in Your Court, CNN: Chris Cuomo Accused of Sexually Harassing a Co-Worker

Former ABC executive and journalist Shelley Ross accused CNN’s Chris Cuomo of harassing her at a party in 2005.

Ross wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times that Cuomo grabbed her buttocks at a party. According to Ross, Cuomo gave her a bear hug, “while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock.” Ross stated that Cuomo told her, “‘I can do this now that you’re no longer my boss.”

The former ABC executive said Cuomo told her that “with a kind of cocky arrogance.”

She continued, “‘No you can’t,’ I said, pushing him off me at the chest.”

Ross wrote in her op-ed in the Times that her husband was present for the incident. She stated that she pushed Cuomo off of her, “while stepping back, revealing my husband, who had seen the entire episode at close range. We quickly left.”

Cuomo sent an email to Ross on June 1, 2005, with the subject, “Now that I think of it … I am ashamed.” Good to see he finally came to his senses; however, Ross has her doubts as to whether he really was ashamed of his actions or not: “But my question today is the same as it was then: Was he ashamed of what he did, or was he embarrassed because my husband saw it?”

Ross expressed in the op-ed that she views the apology as “an attempt to provide himself with legal and moral coverage to evade accountability.”

Many on the left and right have taken to Twitter to express their thoughts on Cuomo.

Thank you Shelley Ross. Your focus on accountability is exactly right.

⁦@ChrisCuomo⁩ will you hold yourself accountable? https://t.co/WitWTzxuNy

— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) September 24, 2021

The “Rules Don’t Apply To Me”code often transcends specific topics.

First, ⁦@ChrisCuomo⁩ violated journalistic standards by covering/ignoring his brother. Now he’s accused of sexual harassment at ABC. https://t.co/FGhRoQLIi1

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 24, 2021

Sounds exactly like something Chris Cuomo would do https://t.co/oa1n5Zy8GY pic.twitter.com/khPtNOkrPM

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) September 24, 2021

“I have always cared very deeply about these issues,” Chris Cuomo told CNN viewers after his brother got in trouble.

But years before, Chris Cuomo had harassed and groped his own former boss at ABC.

Powerful op ed by Shelley Ross. https://t.co/57x4NudDdR

— Jodi Kantor (@jodikantor) September 24, 2021

Total Fredo move putting the confession in writing right after the crime occurred https://t.co/AAQoEMzcCV pic.twitter.com/czw9ekH7o4

— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) September 24, 2021

Unfortunately, no one is really surprised. The question now is how will CNN react to this news?

“If Mr. Cuomo and CNN management don’t think he crossed a serious line, one that warrants consequences, I know he crossed a line with me,” Ross stated.

However, she isn’t looking for CNN to fire Cuomo. Ross stated she would like to see Cuomo “journalistically repent: agree on air to study the impact of sexism, harassment and gender bias in the workplace, including his own, and then report on it.”