Byron York’s Daily Memo: What does it take to get fired at CNN?

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET FIRED AT CNN? The Drudge headline seemed clear: “ZUCKER GIVES CUOMO THE CHOP,” referring to CNN President Jeff Zucker’s dealing with scandal-plagued anchor Chris Cuomo. The implication was that Zucker had fired Cuomo after new documents emerged showing that Cuomo was deeply involved in his brother’s, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s, defense on sexual harassment allegations.

But Chris Cuomo has not been fired. He has been “suspended indefinitely.” Which means he could be suspended for six months, or six days, or six hours — whatever CNN decides.

Taken along with CNN’s decision to keep legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin after Toobin was caught masturbating on-camera during a Zoom meeting with colleagues, the Cuomo case leads to a question: What does it take to get fired at CNN?

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Toobin, you might recall, was fired by his other employer, the New Yorker. But CNN simply announced that Toobin had asked to take some time off after the masturbation incident, and his absence from the network was described as a “leave.” Eight months later, Toobin was back on the air, where he remains today.

Now, Chris Cuomo has become a repeat offender when it comes to placing his brother’s political fortunes above his responsibilities at CNN. Last May, there was news that Cuomo had taken part in conference calls strategizing his brother’s defense — clearly crossing the line between journalism and political activity. Zucker called Cuomo’s actions a “mistake,” but softened any criticism by assuring CNN employees that Cuomo “is human, and these are very unique circumstances.” Cuomo stayed on the air.

Until this week, when the New York attorney general’s office — which investigated Andrew Cuomo — released documents showing that Cuomo played a very active role in the then-governor’s defense. That role included looking into the governor’s accusers. “Three days after the New York Times broke the story about Anna Ruch, who alleged the governor sexually harassed her at a 2019 wedding reception,” reads a story published by Fox News, “the CNN anchor texted top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, ‘I have a lead on the wedding girl.'”

So what did CNN do? Did Zucker announce that Cuomo, whom he had given a second chance, had blown it and would now be fired? Not at all. Instead, CNN released a statement saying the attorney general’s documents “raise serious questions.” The statement said that back in May, “[Cuomo] 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.” Now, though, “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.”

Cuomo, while off the air, is still with CNN. And what about that “further evaluation”? It is common practice for companies facing a major problem to hire an outsider, usually a law firm, to investigate the issue. Not this time. “CNN has no immediate plans to retain an outside law firm or forensic investigators for the review,” the New York Times reports. “CNN has not publicly referred to the inquiry as an investigation, instead calling it a ‘thorough review’ that would seek ‘additional clarity’ into the situation.”

So not only has Chris Cuomo not been fired — he’s not even going to face an investigation from anyone outside the comfortable world of CNN. And then? After some sort of decent interval of suspension, he could be back on the air like nothing ever happened. On Wednesday, CNN media reporter Brian Stelter said that “A lot of viewers love Chris Cuomo and are now ticked off that he is off the air, and they want to see him back.” After CNN’s internal “review,” they could get what they want.

“The bottom line is that Cuomo is on the bench for now,” Stelter said. “We’re heading into a holiday season. I think it’s possible he will be on the bench for several weeks. It’s possible he’ll be back in January.” And if that happens, the question will remain: What does it take to get fired at CNN?

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