Ex-ABC Temp: Chris Cuomo Badgered Me for Sex Then Assaulted Me in His Office
‘DEEPLY TRAUMATIZED’
Years after the alleged incident, at the height of the #MeToo wave, the unnamed woman was contacted out of nowhere by Cuomo, who was trying to “test the waters,” her lawyer said.
A woman working in a temporary position at ABC News with hopes of being promoted to full-time status was invited for lunch by Chris Cuomo, then an anchor at the network, in his office. Once alone with him, he began pestering her for sex, she told The New York Times, which published a lengthy report late Tuesday that detailed the woman’s allegations for the first time. When she refused Cuomo’s advances in his office, she said, he assaulted her. She ran out of the room, but remained “deeply traumatized,” according to her lawyer, Debra S. Katz. In a letter sent to CNN days before the star anchor was abruptly fired, Katz alleged that Cuomo had reached out to the woman at the height of the #MeToo wave to “test the waters” and “discourage her from going on the record about his sexual misconduct.” He later aired a flattering segment on the PR firm she worked for, Katz claimed. Katz told the Times that her client, who has not been identified, doesn’t want to become “a pawn in an internecine war” between Cuomo, former CNN president Jeff Zucker, and CNN. As a result, she will not speak publicly about the assault again.
