CNN's Chris Cuomo looked into the progress of Ronan Farrow reporting on his brother Andrew Cuomo. He then relayed the information to the governor's inner circle. According to a transcript of his testimony to New York State investigators in July,
Farrow, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Harvey Weinstein, helped to launch the #MeToo Movement. also took a deep look at alleged sexual misconductby the former governor. Cuomo is the CNN anchor's brother.
Chris Cuomo acknowledged to having contacted Farrow's colleagues for updates, but said it was just "business as usual" to use such methods. State investigators have released text messages that Melissa DeRosa, top Andrew Cuomo aide, asked about the "intel" CNN anchor had on Farrow's March 15 report. He replied it wasn’t ready for publication. Farrrow's story was finally published on March 18.
Cuomo's admission is contrary to what he said to CNN viewers in August, when he stated that he had never called the press about his brother's situation.
The transcript from last week shows that an attorney brought up this topic and asked the "Cuomo Prime Time” host if he remembered the governor's team discussing Farrow’s article.
"They were very concerned and it kept moving. What they thought it was about was moving, when it was coming out was moving," Cuomo said. "When Ronan Farrow writes something, people in the media are going to talk about it."
CNN's host was then asked whether he had discussed Farrow’s reporting with his big sister.
"Yes," the CNN host responded before being asked to elaborate.
"Just ask him, you know. How did he feel about it? What was it?" He asked him what he thought the impact was. He said that he didn’t believe the article was fair and that she was being propped up.
CNN's host confirmed that the "she" he was referring to was Lindsey Boylan. This was the subject of Farrow's March 18, 2021 piece in which Boylan gave her first detailed interview about her claims of harassment by and retaliation from the former governor. Boylan's claim to Farrow in the New Yorker was made months after her initial tweet about then-Gov. Cuomo "sexually harassed" me for many years. Multiple other women made the accusation of Cuomo of sexual harassment after he was accused.
CNN's Cuomo was then questioned about a March 2021 SMS message in which he stated "If Ronan's nothing better - than Boylan that's great sign," while texting with DeRosa. When he made that comment, he was then asked what he meant.
Ronan has always had more people. That's his strength as a journalist. People come to him to understand. He has his critics, I'm sure. Cuomo stated that he is at his best when he has critics.
"So, the assumption was that he must have had new people if it took him so long to write about this. Then he didn’t. Cuomo said that the context was: "I had heard that he was only writing about Lindsey Boylan, which I understood to be true." So that would mean that he couldn't find any more people to complain about. I would then have to witness this team being shocked to see another person. This was a never-ending cycle that was extremely difficult for a family member. This was the context.
Cuomo claimed that he did not recall any conversations with other members of the governor’s inner circle regarding additional allegations that could have been reported by Farrow. Cuomo was then reminded by an attorney that he was asked by Farrow three days prior to the publication of his story if he had "any additional intel".
"Story not ready for tomorrow," According to the transcript, Cuomo sent back a message.
They didn't know when Ronan pieces were coming out. So I asked people to tell me if they had heard about the Ronan piece. We do this all the time with him. CNN's Cuomo stated that it's a great device that he uses to let people know when something's coming. "You know, so there's this – this constant speculation game. It is very effective in driving interest in his articles."
CNN's most-watched news anchor admitted that he called Farrow's colleagues and asked them to interfere in the reporting process.
"I called Ronan's colleague journalist. Ronan was not interested in speaking to me directly. I know him. He's great - he has been a good friend to me. He has been on my show. But I didn’t want him to. I didn’t want to push him around like that. It's not right," Cuomo said. "I was told that nothing would happen right away."
Cuomo was asked by CNN if he said that he was reaching out to people to inquire about articles that could harm his brother.
Cuomo stated, "No, not specifically."
The attorney demanded Cuomo's confirmation that he called CNN on behalf of his brother or executive chamber to get information. But the CNN host said that he didn’t see it that way.
"There was going be an article about me brother. So, I'm interested. I didn't intend to call the author. I was not going to try and influence any stories. We know this because we would have read about it if I had. Cuomo stated that it's not a loyalty-based company. "If I tried to influence any reporting at CNN, or elsewhere, I guarantee that people would know. And so would many others. The idea that one reporter could call another to learn about the future is business-as usual.
Boylan, a former Cuomo assistant, was the first to accuse Andrew Cuomoof sexual misconduct. She was among 11 people who were part of New York Attorney general Letitia James' investigation of Gov. Cuomo's resignation was the result.
CNN did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
