Chris Cuomo announced Friday on the podcast he co-hosts with Don Lemon that he is taking a week off from his 9 p.m. show on CNN.
Cuomo said this was a previously scheduled break that was planned around his birthday. “Every year I take my birthday week off. I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’ll be right here at home because I don’t know why I’d go anywhere else than the East End of Long Island during the summer. It’s the most beautiful place in the world. I’ll be fishing, I’ll be hanging out with you [Don Lemon] and I’ll be making memories with the kids.”
The timing of the vacation comes as his older brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, faces calls to resign after a 168-page investigative report by New York state AG Tish James was released on Tuesday, detailing multiple sexual harassment accusations against him.
The CNN host testified as part of the attorney general’s investigation, confirming reports from May that he had discussed strategy with his brother’s aides on how to respond to the allegations. On his show, the host referred to his own actions a “mistake,” apologized to his colleagues and said he would not discuss his brother on-air.
He stuck to that promise, avoiding any discussion of the release of the report, despite it being one of America’s top news stories and something that was being covered on every other CNN show.
Neither Cuomo nor Lemon mentioned the investigation or the report on the podcast Friday.
Cuomo’s regular substitute host Michael Smerconish will helm Cuomo Primetime Friday.