What CNN Noticed After Chris Cuomo's Suspension

Chris Cuomo and his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, were media darlings throughout most of 2020, thanks to their playful on-screen banter as two Italian-American brothers who tease as much as they love one another. 

However, it seemed like America's love affair with the Cuomos came to a screeching halt when Andrew was forced to resign due to the numerous sexual misconduct allegations that were made against him. To make matters worse, Chris reportedly used his position in the media in a "cozy and improper nature" with some of his brother's aides, according to CNN, which has led the network to make the decision to suspend him indefinitely. Chris, meanwhile, has made it no secret that his suspension has felt like a career embarrassment for him. During his Sirius XM show, "Let's Get After It with Chris Cuomo" on December 1, he said, "It hurts to even say it. It's embarrassing, but I understand it. And I understand why some people feel the way they do about what I did."

That might not be the only thing that Chris could possibly feel embarrassed about, however, as his former bosses at CNN have just noticed something peculiar happened to his show after he was let go.

CNN has seen the ratings for Chris Cuomo's primetime show go through the roof, but only after his departure, according to the New York Post. Cuomo's former colleague Anderson Cooper will be filling in for him on his show "Cuomo Prime Time" for the time being and apparently it's a switch that seems to be working well with fans, per Variety. The latest figures from AdWeek's TV Newser website say that his numbers went up from 754,000 viewers to 897,000, which is about a 19 percent increase. Cooper, for his part, did acknowledge the elephant in the room when it came to Cuomo's absence. "When Chris admitted to us he had offered advice to his brother's staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly," he said, reading a statement from the network. "But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second."

Now that Cuomo has a lot of free time on his hands, there's no doubt that he'll be spending it with his family, and maybe even his brother Andrew Cuomo, who might possibly be looking for a job, too, seeing how there's already talk of a political comeback for him. Here's hoping that his brother — the little meatball of the family — won't continue to feel so embarrassed by it all.