Just when you thought America was spared from the lesser Cuomo brother, sports and pop culture outlet OutKick reported on Friday that “unbiased” NewsNation was in talks to sign Chris “Fredo” Cuomo. The rumor comes as Cuomo has posted video reports from the eastern front in Ukraine to his Instagram with the hashtag “free agent” promoting something called “The Chris Cuomo Project,” with accompanying merch for sale.
According to OutKick’s Bobby Burack, four sources claim “Cuomo has had talks with the cable news network NewsNation about a return to television” and “Cuomo teased a return last week on Instagram with the phrase ‘something’s coming…Summer ’22.’”
That tease could be a reference to Cuomo’s attempt to re-brand himself as a freelance journalist and war reporter, something he has experience doing dating back to his time at ABC in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In a series of videos shared on his Instagram account, Cuomo says he “went to the eastern front” where some of the heaviest fighting is taking place. The U.K.-based Daily Mail reported that “He had traveled to the war zone at the end of June with his 'brother' Sean Penn, who is filming a documentary there.”
Portraying himself as better than outlets like CNN, Cuomo wrote that “America should be paying a lot more attention” to what’s happening in Ukraine and wondered: “Why so little coverage here?” “I will show you more reason to care...soon,” he proclaimed. “On Monday, I’ll show you what you’re not seeing from Ukraine. Free Agents need to know,” he said in another post.
Although Cuomo seems to suggest he’s still reporting from Ukraine, the Daily Mail has images of Cuomo strutting “in the Hamptons just a day after he appeared to be reporting live from Ukraine while rebranding himself as a 'free agent' in an effort to rehabilitate his career.”
Back at OutKick, Burack reported that “NewsNation President Michael Corn is leading the push to sign Cuomo, sources say. Corn was a producer at ABC when Cuomo was a host.” Seemingly giving some credence to the negotiation rumors, “NewsNation told OutKick that it would not comment on its conversations with Chris Cuomo or other unsigned talents.”
While hiring Cuomo would bring a big-named quantity to the fledgling network, it would also be a massive blow to their credibility and their stated goal of being an unbiased news network. As NewsBusters has extensively documented over the years, Cuomo believes journalistic ethics don’t apply to him and he’s a staunch liberal operative.
He’s claimed there’s a “through-line” from the Tulsa race massacre to the current Republican Party; the GOP wants to bring back Jim Crow; peddled the fabricated lies of con artist Rebekah Jones like no one else at CNN because it hurt Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and made his brother, disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) look better; nagged Andrew to run for president against then-President Donald Trump in 2020; and backed the violent riots of 2020 by claiming protests weren’t required to be peaceful.
And that’s just a sample.
Cuomo’s own marketing seems to suggest he’s leaning away from getting tied down to a network. A link in his Instagram bio leads to a merch store where you can buy “one-of-a-kind products” like shirts had hats with his new catchphrase “Free Agent,” and ones that ask “are YOU free?”
I guess he’s no longer ‘getting after it.’
