Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo will not have his new book published by HarperCollins Publishers, as originally planned, as the publishing company nixed its plans to release the book amid the revelations that led to his termination from CNN.
A spokesperson for the company’s Custom House imprint confirmed to the New York Post Tuesday that the book, "Deep Denial," had been dropped following a report that the planned title had recently been removed from Amazon's website.
"I can confirm that we don’t intend to publish the book," spokesperson Kelly Rudolph told the paper.
A publishing-industry source told the Post that this is why contracts "have a morals clause," adding that Cuomo "lost his platform and his credibility."
However, the source also pointed out that the book deal's cancelation would likely help Cuomo in a lawsuit against CNN over his firing because "it really cost him materially."
The book was described as 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."
The "Cuomo Primetime" host was fired by CNN on Saturday, just days after he had been suspended by the network over documents released by the New York state attorney general showing that he had used his media sources to find information about women who accused his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), of sexual harassment and was in regular contact with the governor's top aide about his findings.
CNN said the documents gave the company "cause to terminate" and, after "new allegations" that a former colleague of Cuomo's from his time at ABC News accused the anchor of sexual misconduct came to light, the network made the decision to fire him immediately.
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"Based on the report we received regarding Chris’s conduct with his brother’s defense, we had cause to terminate," a CNN spokesperson said in a statement Saturday night. "When new allegations came to us this week, we took them seriously, and saw no reason to delay taking immediate action."
Cuomo's spokesperson said that the sexual misconduct allegations are "not true."
The former anchor released a statement earlier on Saturday following his termination, saying that 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."
"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 as CNN's #1 show in the most competitive time slot," he said. "I owe them all and will miss that group of special people who did really important work."
Cuomo announced Monday that he will no longer be doing his SiriusXM radio show, "Let’s Get After It with Chris Cuomo," after the network reportedly demanded he quit the show.
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