Chris Cuomo Is Demanding $125M from CNN in Wrongful Termination Suit

Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo hit back his former employee and friend, former CNN CEO Jeff Zucker with $125 million arbitration demand that includes his remaining salary as well as “future wages lost as a result of CNN’s efforts to destroy his reputation.”

The Hollywood Reporter:

Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is demanding $125 million from CNN following his termination from the cable news channel last year.

In a demand for arbitration filed with the dispute resolution giant JAMS, Cuomo alleges that his firing was not justified and that former CNN president Jeff Zucker failed to abide by the terms of Cuomo’s contract “by failing to instruct CNN employees not to disparage Cuomo.”

In fact, the complaint alleges that there was a “calculated campaign to smear Cuomo and destroy his reputation” by some CNN staff.

The $125 million claim, filed by Cuomo’s attorneys at Freedman + Taitelman and Clayman Rosenberg, includes $15 million that he says is owed for the remainder of his contract, but also “future wages lost as a result of CNN’s efforts to destroy his reputation in violation of the Agreement.”

Cuomo was fired by CNN in December after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a deposition he gave in which he recounted the advice he gave his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was dealing with allegations of sexual harassment.

CNN and Cuomo first acknowledged that he had advised his brother last May, with the CNN anchor at the time saying he was “family first.” He added, “It was a mistake, because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot. I never intended for that, I would never intend for that, and I’m sorry for that.”

However, his testimony before the NYAG showed a deeper involvement than was publicly known, though Cuomo says in the arbitration filing that he was “keeping CNN executives apprised of his actions at all times.”