Cuomo Launches Comeback, Says He 'Will Never Be a Hater' of CNN

Former CNN anchor, Chris Cuomo, has plotted a comeback by releasing his own podcast titled The Chris Cuomo Project wherein he vowed to never become a hater of the network that fired him.

Launched Thursday, the two-episode-per-week podcast will reportedly feature Cuomo giving “his signature take on today’s pressing current events — and explores how these stories are being covered by all sides of the media.” It will feature “in-depth interviews with newsmakers, tastemakers, and other influential figures,” per the description on the show’s YouTube page.

According to the Hollywood Reporter (THR), Cuomo’s debut episode featured snippets from his recent trip to Ukraine as well as interviews with actor Sean Penn and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak. The big moment, however, came when he addressed the elephant in the room: his former employer.

“As for CNN, I will never be a hater. CNN has great people, CNN has a great purpose, and I wish them all the best, and I miss so many of the people there,” Cuomo said. “But it is time for me to move on, and I believe I can be more than I was before.”

Cuomo apologized to his former staffers for not giving a proper goodbye.

“The people who made my show number one at CNN from the jump, and kept it there,” Cuomo said. “They never get the credit they deserve, it is always about the hair and the teeth, the people on TV. I didn’t get to say goodbye, and I am sorry about that. I am sorry that circumstances made it impossible to tell you face to face how each and all of you mean to me.”

In December of last year, CNN suspended Chris Cuomo indefinitely after unearthed text messages revealed that he used his media sources to discredit his brother Andrew’s #MeToo accusers, raising “serious concerns” about his ethical conduct. When Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor of New York, Chris Cuomo initially told CNN that he only aided the disgraced politician as a brother, not as an actual adviser:

When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly. But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second.

However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother’s efforts than we previously knew. As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation.

Several days later, CNN announced that it fired Chris Cuomo after “additional information” came to light about his conduct:

Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense. We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately. While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.

Cuomo said on his podcast that he does not regret helping his brother.

“For me, the past is the past, and there is no benefit to you if I relitigate what was said and done involving my brother,” he said. “And there are some outstanding legal fights that I have to respect, but let me be clear: I do regret how everything ended, but I will never regret helping my family. I promised my father that I always would be there for my brother, and I always will be, just like he has always been there for me, just like my sisters have been there for me, and have been there for him. That’s family.”