Published in a New Tork Times op-ed, Chris Cuomo’s former boss, Shelley Ross, claimed that he had sexually harassed her.
The op-ed claimed, while Chris Cuomo was working at ABC News, that he had grabbed Ross’ butt while in a bar.
The op-ed said, “I [Ross] 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.”
She said Cuomo smiled at her and said he could “do this now,” which is in reference to how she was no longer his boss.
Ross went on to say her response to Cuomo was, “’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. She said, “We quickly left.”
The op-ed claimed the Cuomo quickly wrote an apology email to her, which said, “Though my hearty greeting was a function of being glad to see you … 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 … 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 … next time, I will remember the lesson, no matter how happy I am to see you …”
Ross went on to write about her intentions for making such claims, “I have no grudge against Mr. Cuomo; I’m not looking for him to lose his job. Rather, this is an opportunity for him and his employer to show what accountability can look like in the #MeToo era. Accountability has been the cornerstone of the #MeToo movement, leading to tangible results and even justice, consequences for harassers and the possibility of real change.”
