The media world was rocked on Tuesday evening when CNN announced that its only primetime host who manages to get ratings, Chris Cuomo, was “indefinitely suspended” following a damning AG report that indicated he was more involved in his disgraced brother’s sexual misconduct scandal than he originally admitted.
But according to Fox News, some of Cuomo’s colleagues, including Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy, believe that Cuomo might only be off the air for a few weeks, and could possibly return as early as January, depending on the results of an internal review.
Stelter and Darcy made the revelation in CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter on Tuesday.
Stelter: A “lot of viewers” are “now ticked off that he’s off the air, and they want to see him back….Cuomo is on the bench for now. 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.” pic.twitter.com/lDSksRuWBO
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) December 1, 2021
What’s going on?
The two CNN hosts, who have publicly defended Cuomo, raised questions after their newsletter prediction, which explained what was happening.
Darcy wrote, “Cuomo has been suspended by CNN – not for a few days, not for some faux ‘vacation,’ but for an indefinite period of time, ‘pending further evaluation,’ the network said.”
“The CNN spokesman who shared the suspension decision did not get into any further details, but it’s possible that Cuomo – who frequently ranks as the highest-rated host on the network — will remain on the bench for weeks,” he added.
That revelation led many to wonder if CNN will ultimately give Cuomo the “Toobin treatment,” which was a reference to the humiliating Zoom masturbation incident with CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin, who was suspended and eventually brought back on air in a move that surprised most media personalities.
“Definitely awkward”
Stelter was widely criticized when he defended Cuomo earlier this year, but later admitted that the situation was not exactly great for CNN’s public relations.
“It is an odd conflict,” Stelter admitted. “But I don’t think — if we open up the journalism ethics book, there’s no page for this. The craziest set of circumstances that you can imagine, right? A governor and a brother, both in these high-profile jobs.
Stelter added: “This is definitely awkward for CNN, though.”
Only time will tell if CNN buckles and brings Cuomo back online, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they do, as they literally have nobody left who can generate the ratings necessary to make the business viable for advertisers.
The post CNN’s Brian Stelter hints that Cuomo might be back on air in January first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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