Accusation Surfaced Before Cuomo's Firing

CNN received a new allegation against Chris Cuomo days before firing him—which may have been the "additional information" the network cited in dismissing the host Saturday. Debra Katz, a lawyer, said Sunday that her client has accused Cuomo of "serious sexual misconduct" and that CNN was informed on Wednesday, the Guardian reports. Katz said the allegation is not connected to Cuomo's involvement in helping his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, stave off sexual harassment allegations and keep his office, per the New York Times.

"These apparently anonymous allegations are not true," a spokesman for the former CNN anchor said. Katz said her client decided to make the accusation after Chris Cuomo, in discussing the accusations against his brother, said, "I have always cared very deeply about these issues, and profoundly so." Katz said the woman was upset by "the hypocrisy of Chris Cuomo's on-air words and disgusted by his efforts to try to discredit these women." Cuomo's spokesman answered that he "fully stands by his on-air statements about his connection to these issues, both professionally and in a profoundly personal way." (More Chris Cuomo stories.)