CNN came under fire Saturday afternoon for not disclosing what the network said was “additional information” about star host Chris Cuomo during the course of its investigation into Cuomo amid controversy regarding the help that he provided to his brother, then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), during the course of a sexual misconduct scandal that ultimately led to his downfall.
In a statement announcing Cuomo’s termination, the network said that it had encountered new information that led to its decision:
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.
Buried at the very bottom of CNN’s report on Cuomo’s firing, 20 paragraphs down, CNN reported:
The CNN statement on Saturday also referred to “additional information [that] has come to light” during the review of the document dump. A CNN spokesperson declined to share any further detail about the information.
The withholding of details about the “additional information” led to widespread backlash online, including some of the following responses:
- Mike Cernovich, political commentator: “What additional information? You’re supposedly a media outlet. Break the story. Tell the truth. … Make it public. That’s journalism.”
- Caleb Hull, political strategist: “What’s the ‘additional information’ and why aren’t you releasing it?”
- Philip Lewis, HuffPost: “That ‘additional information’ must be wild.”
- Josh Jordan, political commentator: “CNN casually dropping ‘additional information has come to light’ on the Chris Cuomo firing is the most newsworthy part of the release… Release the ‘additional information’ CNN cut!”
This is a developing news story; refresh the page for updates.