CNN’s Chris Cuomo Says He’s Taking Preplanned Vacation Amid Scrutiny Over Brother’s Scandal

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Since the New York attorney general’s office issued a report on Tuesday concluding that Gov. Andrew Cuomo engaged in illegal sexual harassment against multiple women, his primetime TV host brother has been noticeably mum on the subject.

The report also included a nugget about how Chris Cuomo appears to have helped his brother draft a response to the allegations during strategy sessions in May.

On Thursday’s episode of The Handoff podcast, per the New York Times, Cuomo told his co-host and CNN colleague Don Lemon he’s taking next week off because of his birthday. Cuomo turns 51 on Monday.

“Every year I take my birthday week off,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

With the exception of Cuomo Prime Time, CNN has given ample coverage to the attorney general’s report, as well as the governor’s response. One particularly noteworthy segment ran on Don Lemon Tonight. Each night Cuomo ends his show and hands airtime off to Lemon, but not before the duo usually engage in a few minutes of banter about a newsworthy or sometimes lighthearted topic.

Just hours after the attorney general’s report dropped on Tuesday, Cuomo and Lemon had their typical show handoff, but immediately thereafter, Lemon led off his show with the attorney general’s report and called it “damning.” He also said Cuomo’s response to the report was “tone-deaf” and that “it didn’t really help him.”