Chris Cuomo (pictured) has revealed that his bromance with his former CNN co-star Don Lemon was just for show and that the pair now loathe one another. The fired duo regularly gushed about each other on-air as Cuomo handed over to Lemon, hosted The Handoff podcast and went on tour together.

But Cuomo has now said the friendship was never real – telling Patrick Bell-David’s Home Team podcast their banter was actually the idea of former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who had concerns about how Lemon would open his show. According to Cuomo, Zucker basically told him he had to ‘stay over on Lemon’s show to help mitigate whatever’s going to come out of his mouth.’ Cuomo has previously said that his relationship with Lemon fell apart when he was fired in 2021 over advising his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, as he went though a sexual harassment scandal.

The journalist said Lemon did not have his back and never reached out to him after his CNN termination. Cuomo has now sniped that Lemon’s stature at the network was boosted by his relationship with Zucker. ‘Zucker’s best friend is Don Lemon’s best friend — who’s his agent — so, they had a real bond,’ Cuomo claimed. Cuomo, now an anchor on News Nation, emphasized that there is no love lost between when asked about whether he would do another podcast with Lemon. ‘Why would I do it?’ Cuomo ‘You think he’s going to apologize to me? I am a loyalty guy… that’s the end of the analysis for me… You’re ride or die, or you’re not.’

Meanwhile Lemon and Zucker (pictured) were eventually also ousted from the network. Zucker resigned after it was revealed that he had an undisclosed relationship with a network executive, and Lemon, 59, was fired after being accused of making misogynistic comments about women in their 40s being past their prime. Lemon now hosts a YouTube show, which Cuomo said he ‘doesn’t find particularly interesting.’

Cuomo is suing CNN for over $100million over his firing. In his lawsuit against CNN, Cuomo has accused his colleagues of mounting a smear campaign after he was fired for helping his governor brother fight sexual harassment allegations. He charged CNN with ruining his reputation and violating his contract by letting employees publicly criticize him.

‘Don Lemon, another CNN anchor, falsely claimed that Cuomo had been ‘found to break with those journalistic standards and then [was] paid handsomely for it,’ according to the filing, which was obtained by Mediate. CNN underwent massive changes after suffering a ratings decline following the first Donald Trump presidential term. The network has been implementing significant changes as it attempts to alter its coverage of Trump’s second presidency.

CNN is far from the only major broadcaster to face major changes, with several newsrooms facing layoffs including at ABC News, where entire teams were recently ‘gutted’ in a firing spree. The changes at CNN are reportedly fueled by CEO Mark Thompson’s long-term plans to evolve the company’s entire structure. Thompson, who joined CNN less than two years ago, reportedly has plans to turn CNN into a subscription-based news model.

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