The media personality was fired from CNN last year.
Chris Cuomo is denying that he tried to influence media coverage of his brother. In his first TV interview since he was fired from CNN, Chris addresses many of the controversies surrounding his exit.
Chris' firing came after he was suspended when communications surfaced that indicated he may have used his sources as a journalist and media personality to assist in helping his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, build a legal defense against multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct.
"I never contacted any media who were covering my brother to try to affect their coverage," Chris says on Tuesday's episode of NewsNation's Dan Abrams Live. "I talk to people in the media all the time. They’re most of the people in my life."
Dan responded by pressing Chris on his comments, stating, "But you said, 'I never made calls to the press about my brother’s situation.' You did make calls to the press about your brother’s situation."
"But I think the distinction has a meaningful difference," Chris replied. "The concern would be not that I called you and said, 'What do you think’s going on here?' It’s me calling you and saying, 'Hey, tonight in your segment I hope you remember that.' But that’s what I meant and that’s what matters."
As for if he's mad at his brother about the situation, Chris joked, "I'm angry at my brother on a regular basis," before addressing the question more seriously.
"I love my brother. The rule in my family is very simple. Family, trouble, go," Chris said. "Other people have the luxury of judging allegations and situations. For me, it was about helping my brother in a hard way and doing it in a way I didn’t think compromised what matters. That’s what guided me."
As such, Chris said he does not consider himself to be a victim of cancel culture.
"I don’t think I’ve ever been a victim of anything in my life. You make choices. You make a choice to be in this business. You make a choice to be in that dynamic and to want to be relevant," he said. "It’s not always going to be easy. It’s not always going to be fair. My therapist has a great line: 'fair is the only real four-letter word,' you know, in terms of a curse. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I am certainly not a victim."
Despite that point of view, Chris has filed an unlawful termination lawsuit against his former network, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated based on false claims that he defied journalistic ethics, which led to "his journalistic integrity [being] unjustifiably smeared."
"I learned something during this period. I have been obsessed with what happened, when what was known. There are a lot of facts that are going to come out," Chris said. "I’ve also learned that they are largely only important to me, in terms of what I want people to think, and want people to feel, and how I want them to see me. That’s about me. I don’t think that it’s helpful to a lot of other people. So yes, there’s litigation going on, but I’m telling you, I never lied and there were no secrets."
Chris' full Dan Abrams Live interview will air Tuesday, July 26 at 9 p.m. ET / 8p.m. CT on NewsNation.
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