Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is planning his comeback: and it’s a podcast.
Cuomo on Thursday launched The Chris Cuomo Project, an interview podcast with plans to release two episodes per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The podcast will see Cuomo give “his signature take on today’s pressing current events — and explores how these stories are being covered by all sides of the media,” according to a description on the podcast’s official YouTube page.
It will also feature “in-depth interviews with newsmakers, tastemakers and other influential figures,” per the description.
The debut episode featured interviews with actor Sean Penn and Andrii Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, and included pieces from a recent trip Cuomo took to Ukraine with some regular citizens.
But Cuomo also used the inaugural episode to mention his exit from CNN, and the circumstances surrounding it. Despite being terminated by CNN in December, Cuomo appeared ready to move on.
“As for CNN, I will never be a hater. CNN has great people, CNN has a great purpose, and I wish them all the best, and I miss so many of the people there,” Cuomo said. “But it is time for me to move on, and I believe I can be more than I was before.”
He did, however, apologize to his “amazing team” at the cable news channel.
“The people who made my show number one at CNN from the jump, and kept it there,” Cuomo said. “They never get the credit they deserve, it is always about the hair and the teeth, the people on TV. I didn’t get to say goodbye, and I am sorry about that. I am sorry that circumstances made it impossible to tell you face to face how each and all of you mean to me.”
Since being fired by CNN, Cuomo has rebranded himself as a “free agent,” going so far as to sell “Free Agent” merchandise on his website, with the slogan “are YOU free?” The podcast description emphasizes that he is “free from the constraints of a traditional media organization” and as such is for “those who don’t fit nicely on one side or the other.”
During the intro to his podcast, he doubled down on that thesis, suggesting that cable news channels “massage” coverage to fit what they think their audience wants to hear.
Cuomo, who worked for Fox News and ABC News before joining CNN, also said he was supported in his career by Roger Ailes and Jeff Zucker: “Two of the most impactful, powerful, talented and of course controversial media moguls.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter