CNN Host Chris Cuomo Accused Of Sexual Harassment, Allegedly Grabbed Ex-Boss' Butt At Party
Sept. 24 2021, Published 10:23 a.m. ET
Chris Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by a former ABC executive producer, just months after allegedly helping his brother Andrew Cuomo cover up his own scandal.
Shelley Ross came forward in a New York Times op-ed Friday, detailing her alleged encounter with the 51-year-old — who is now a prominent face on CNN.
She claims Cuomo grabbed her butt at a New York City bar in 2005, in front of their work colleagues and her husband.
Ross says she was an executive producer of an ABC entertainment show at the time but had been Cuomo's boss on Primetime Live.
“I was at the party with my husband, who sat behind me on an ottoman sipping his Diet Coke as I spoke with work friends. When Mr. Cuomo entered the Upper West Side bar, he walked toward me and greeted me with a strong bear hug while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock,” she detailed in the op-ed.
Ross claims Cuomo acknowledged what he was allegedly doing at the time of the butt grab.
“’I can do this now that you’re no longer my boss,’” he reportedly said to her. “’No you can’t,’” I said, pushing him off me at the chest while stepping back, revealing my husband, who had seen the entire episode at close range. We quickly left.”
While he may have had an arrogance about him during the alleged butt grab, he later emailed her with an apology that had a cocky subject line.
"Now that I think of it … I am ashamed,” read the email dated June 1, 2005.