'Runs in the family?': Twitter explodes with fury after CNN's Chris Cuomo is accused of grabbing his former ABC boss' buttock in a bar in 2005
Twitter on Friday was bristling with barbed comments aimed at CNN host Chris Cuomo in response to a bombshell claim that he grabbed his former ABC boss' buttock during an event in 2005.
Shelley Ross, former executive producer at ABC and CBS, accused the married dad-of-three presenter in a searing opinion piece for the New York Times detailing the alleged incident at a going-away party for a colleague 16 years ago.
Cuomo sent an email shortly afterward saying he was 'ashamed,' and apologized to Ross' husband, who was present during the encounter.
The host of the eponymous Cuomo Prime Time had faced an avalanche of criticism and widespread calls for his firing over his role in advising his brother, Andrew Cuomo, who resigned as New York governor last month over allegations of sexual harassment from multiple women.
Twitter wits wasted no time drawing unflattering comparisons between the two Cuomo siblings on Friday.
Brigitte Gabriel, founder of the right-wing group ACT for America, wrote: 'It looks like being a creep is part of being a Cuomo.'
CNN's Chris Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by his former ABC boss Shelley Ross (right), who claims he squeezed her buttock upon greeting her in a bar
Twitter lit up with fury directed at Chris Cuomo on Friday, with many commenters drawing unflattering comparisons between the CNN host and his older brother
Lindsay Boylan, the first woman to publicly accuse Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, praised Shelley Ross for seeking to hold Chris Cuomo accountable
Similarly, Fox News contributor Sara A Carter wondered: 'Runs in the family?'
Sebastian Gorka, an adviser to former President Donald Trump, quipped that 'being a pervert runs in Fredo’s family' - a reference to the character of Michael Corleone's weak and hapless brother in The Godfather films.
Steve Milloy, a Fox contributor and climate change denier, went a similar route, writing: 'Fredo, you're in trouble now.'
Amid the chorus of condemnation, Lindsay Boylan, the first woman to publicly accuse Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, praised Ross for breaking her silence.
'Thank you Shelley Ross. Your focus on accountability is exactly right,' she tweeted. '@ChrisCuomowill you hold yourself accountable?'
Ross, who has spoken out in the past about being sexually harassed by the late Fox News boss and serial sex pest Roger Ailes, said Cuomo gave her a 'bear hug' in the bar and grabbed and squeezed her buttock.
Cuomo later sent her an email, apologizing for his actions, she said.
Ross added that she did not believe his actions were 'sexual in nature' but rather a 'form of sexual harassment' where he attempted to 'diminish and belittle his female former boss.'
'I never thought that Mr. Cuomo's behavior was sexual in nature,' she wrote.
'Whether he understood it at the time or not, his form of sexual harassment was a hostile act meant to diminish and belittle his female former boss in front of the staff.'
The CNN anchor has not denied the allegations, telling the Times on Thursday 'it happened 16 years ago' and 'was not sexual in nature.'
'As Shelley acknowledges, our interaction was not sexual in nature. It happened 16 years ago in a public setting when she was a top executive at ABC,' he said.
'I apologized to her then, and I meant it.'
As of Friday afternoon, CNN has not commented on the allegations against Cuomo.
Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann hit out at Cuomo on Twitter
Meanwhile, on social media negative comments targeting the embattled TV presenter have continued pouring in throughout the day.
'This is a very powerful opinion piece,' tweeted Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean. 'I commend Shelly Ross the for having the courage to write it. I’m not as hopeful that Chris Cuomo will change, though. He advised his brother about his sexual harassment accusations and his employer allowed it.'
Ari Cohn, a First Amendment lawyer, joked: 'I guess at least that means @andrewcuomo was getting advice from someone who knew what he was talking about.'
Right-wing commentators were not the only ones attacking Cuomo.
'The ‘Rules Don’t Apply To Me’ code often transcends specific topics,' former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann tweeted. 'First, @ChrisCuomo violated journalistic standards by covering/ignoring his brother. Now he’s accused of sexual harassment at ABC.'
David Simone, Shelley Ross and Ryan Silverman in 2014. Ross said the incident happened in front of her husband Simone
At the time of the alleged incident, Ross had recently moved jobs from executive producer at ABC's 'Primetime Live' - where Cuomo was an anchor - to becoming the executive producer of an ABC entertainment special.
Ross said Cuomo explained his actions away on the night as being okay because she was 'no longer my boss.'
'I was at the party with my husband, who sat behind me on an ottoman sipping his Diet Coke as I spoke with work friends,' she wrote in the op ed.
'When Mr. Cuomo entered the Upper West Side bar, he walked toward me and greeted me with a strong bear hug while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock.'
Cuomo told her 'I can do this now that you're no longer my boss,' she claimed, adding that it was said 'with a kind of cocky arrogance'.
Ross said she pushed Cuomo away from her, with her husband witnessing what had happened.
''No you can't,' I said, pushing him off me at the chest while stepping back, revealing my husband, who had seen the entire episode at close range. We quickly left,' she wrote.
Ross said she received an email from Cuomo one hour later telling her she was 'ashamed' of his behavior.
The email, dated June 1 2005, first apologized to Ross's 'very good and noble husband' for having to witness his wife 'patted as such' - and apologized to her second.
'Now that I think of it… I am ashamed,' read the subject line of the email.
'though my hearty greeting was a function of being glad to see you...,' the email began.
Chris Cuomo is pictured with his family in a photo on his Instagram account. Ross said Cuomo gave her a 'bear hug' in the bar and grabbed and squeezed her buttock in 2005
Chris Cuomo is seen wearing a shirt emblazoned with the phrase 'Truth' during a Labor Day getaway to the Hamptons earlier this month
Cuomo then went on to compare his actions to that of Hollywood actor Christian Slater, who one month earlier had been arrested for allegedly randomly grabbing a woman's buttocks while she was walking through a street in Manhattan, New York City.
Slater was charged with third degree sexual abuse but the charges were later dropped.
'Christian Slater got arrested for a (kind of) similar act (though borne of an alleged negative intent, unlike my own)...and as a husband i can empathize with not liking to see my wife patted as such...,' the email read.
'so pass along my apology to your very good and noble husband...and i apologize to you as well, for even putting you in such a position...
He closed out the email with: 'next time, i will remember the lesson, no matter how happy i am to see you...'
In her op ed, Ross said she questioned whether Cuomo was 'ashamed' of 'what he did, or was he embarrassed because my husband saw it?'
She added: 'Mr. Cuomo may say this is a sincere apology. I've always seen it as an attempt to provide himself with legal and moral coverage to evade accountability.'
She also questioned whether their was a legal motive behind his email, pointing to the comparison Cuomo - a former lawyer - made with Slater, saying she believes he was attempting 'to legally differentiate the two incidents.'
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