HarperCollins will pull a planned book by former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, the publisher announced Tuesday. The book, titled Deep Denial, was to be released in the fall of 2022 through Custom House, an imprint of William Morrow.
“Custom House does not intend to publish the Chris Cuomo book,” said a William Morrow spokesperson, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The reversal comes days after CNN fired Cuomo after an investigation into assistance he provided his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, to fight the accusations of sexual misconduct that ended in the governor’s resignation in August 2021.
Chris Cuomo was suspended, and later fired, by CNN last week after the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, released documentation showing that the host of Cuomo Prime Time pressed sources for information about his brother’s accusers, corresponded with the governor’s staff and helped shape the governor’s responses to the charges.
“This is not how I want my time at CNN to end but I have already told you why and how I helped my brother,” he said in a statement. “So let me now say as disappointing as this is, I could not be more proud of the team at Cuomo Prime Time and the work we did.”
The investigation by James’s office found that Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women.
On Sunday evening, hours after the firing, Chris Cuomo faced his own allegation of workplace sexual harassment. The attorney Debra Katz said her client alleged “serious sexual misconduct” and had contacted CNN about the allegation before Cuomo’s firing.
On Monday, Cuomo announced that he would also step back from his SiriusXM radio show, citing the need to focus on his family.
According to a description by the publisher, the book was intended to be a “provocative analysis of the harsh truths that the pandemic and Trump years have exposed about America – about our strength and our character – and a roadmap of the work needed to make our ideals match reality”.
