The New York Post made fun of CNN host Chris Cuomo in the paper’s Wednesday cover, creating a rendition of an image showing characters from the movie The Godfather, which features the news anchor as Fredo Corleone.
The paper’s cover, which states “GODBOTHER: Chris Cuomo fury at ‘Fredo’ insult,” follows Cuomo’s threatening to assault a man, in an incident caught on camera, after the man referred to him as “Fredo.”
“I’ll f—ing ruin your shit,” the new anchor told the man. Cuomo went on to claim that “Fredo” was the equivalent of the N-word for Italians.
Today’s @nypost cover:
GODBOTHER: https://t.co/g70AKz3FuI
DEMOCRACY DEFIANT IN HK: https://t.co/OTy5DoN9wy pic.twitter.com/O7b483Luf6— Tom Durante (@TomDurante) August 14, 2019
The term “Fredo” went viral on Twitter and the internet after the video of Cuomo was published. Calling someone a “Fredo” has become synonymous with being the weaker brother in the family. The term originated after the publication of the book The Godfather and the release of the popular film series adaptation in which Fredo Corleone betrays his family, not out of malice but weakness.
New York Post‘s photoshopped cover story also featured, in place of the elder Godfather Vito Corleone and his successor Michael Corleone, Cuomo’s father Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York, and brother Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.
CNN stood behind the anchor’s expletive-riddled outbreak, with CNN Vice President of Communications Matt Dornic stating, “Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him.”
