Chris Cuomo accused of sexual harassment by his former ABC News boss of 16 years ago

Former Top ABC Producer Shelley Ross accused CNN host Chris Cuomo of sexually harassing her in an op-ed piece for The New York Times. The former relayed the alleged incident in her column which dated back to 2005 at a going-away party for an ABC colleague. Currently hosting the 9 p.m. hour on CNN, Cuomo drew flak for his conversations with his older brother Andrew Cuomo who stepped down as the New York governor in August after a New York attorney general published a report detailing sexual accusations against him. 

Chris Cuomo accused of sexual harassment by his former boss at ABC

Former executive producer at ABC and CBS Shelley Ross wrote a column for The New York Times relaying the night in a bar in 2005 when Chris Cuomo gave her a 'bear hug'. The column comes after Chris Cuomo found himself in hot waters after advising his older brother of his accusations of sexual harassment. An excerpt from her column detailing the going away party reads,

''At the time, I was the executive producer of an ABC entertainment special, but I was Mr. Cuomo’s executive producer at “Primetime Live” just before that. 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. 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.''

Further in her column, she revealed that Cuomo told her 'I can do this now that you’re no longer my boss' with an air of arrogance to which she replied by pushing him away and saying, ''No you can’t''. Ross further revealed that her husband had witnessed the entire incident at a close range after which the couple quickly left the party. She also added the email sent by the CNN anchor an hour later with the subject line 'Now that I think of it … I am ashamed' apologizing for his actions, first to her ''very good and noble husband'' and then to her. 

Shelley further added that she did not think that Cuomo's actions were of sexual nature but rather meant to 'belittle his female former boss in front of the staff.'  Additionally, she wrote that CNN Anchor addressed the incident as he commented, ''It happened 16 years ago in a public setting when she was a top executive at ABC. I apologized to her then, and I meant it''.

Image:@Instagram/chrisccuomo