Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who now reports via NewsNation, revealed his struggles with mental health on Wednesday’s episode of Anthony Scaramucci’s new podcast, “Open Book,” saying that he’s been doing “the work” and “had to accept” his dismissal, “because I was going to kill everybody, including myself.”
“I had to learn to accept that,” he told Scaramucci. “I had to accept because I was going to kill everybody, including myself. Things can consume you. Italians are so passionate. And I really had to fight against that because, you know, just like you did, I got too many people counting on me.”
Cuomo and Scaramucci both touched on their respective career lows – Scaramucci was fired from the White House after 10 days as the Trump administration’s communications director in 2017 – while also finding common ground on being brought up in a traditional, Catholic, Italian family.
Cuomo’s ousting at CNN in 2021 resulted from the revelation that he was involved in advising his brother Andrew Cuomo, former New York governor, through a sexual abuse scandal. He talked about his high ratings and mentioned how he felt his position was “wrongfully” taken from him.
“I made a lot of mistakes, sometimes with good reasons, sometimes with bad reason,” Cuomo said. “I’m very flawed. There’s damage. There’s damage that’s relatable to people, there’s damage that’s unrelatable to people that I have to deal with – that I have to do the work on.”
Scaramucci also asked Cuomo if he was surprised about how CNN responded to the allegations against him.
“It’s great to see a big name go down,” Cuomo responded. “The media bears down. Politics is a game and he broke the rules of the team he was on. It was a clock ticking.”
Cuomo also repeatedly emphasized how he cared about his brother as a person above his government status.
“He hurts,” Cuomo said of the former governor when Scaramucci asked him about his brother’s status. “He’s not made of teflon.”
Cuomo also brought up how he tries to tell his kids not to idolize him or put him on a pedestal, but to learn from him instead. He brought up therapy and how it has helped him in the fallout of his firing.
“Your life changed. You are in the s—,” his therapist told him. “Not your kids.”
He also talked about litigation for his book, “Deep Denial” in addition to referring to his suit against CNN for $60 million over his dismissal
You can listen to the full podcast episode right here or via Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
