I was once on a work trip where a group of us were traveling to an event we were covering. As I bent over to climb into the van that was taking us, a male anchor put both of his hands on my butt. When I turned around, horrified, he said, laughing, “I didn’t want you to fall out.” Others watched. Some laughed. I was mortified.
Another time, I was new to a job and about to do an on-air segment with one of the network’s star anchors. He said, in earshot of others, “I hope it’s okay, I’ve been calling you ‘C Cup” around the office.” When I said awkwardly, “Um, it’s not okay,” he said, “It’s just a joke, relax.” This also happened in earshot of others — my new colleagues.
Both incidents — two of probably a dozen over my career — happened before the #MeToo reckoning. Back then the idea that these guys’ superiors would take a harassment complaint from me seriously when my harassers didn’t even bother to hide their behavior wasn’t even in the realm of possibility.
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And isn’t that the intended effect? Unwanted advances or inappropriate comments that happen in secret are sinister, but if they happen brazenly in public they can be shrugged off as harmless and merely “misinterpreted.” On Monday the New York Times reported accusations from a third woman who said that, when they met at a wedding in 2019, Cuomo put his hand on her bare lower back and later held her face in his hands and asked if he could kiss her. The incident was even apparently captured by a photographer. (CNN has not verified the woman’s allegations against New York’s governor.)
I don’t know what Cuomo did or didn’t do, what he intended or didn’t intend, but the way he has defended himself in his statement Sunday — which came only after it became clear that with the second accusation he couldn’t make the story go away — is not what accountability sounds like and it’s not acceptable. It’s the kind of sexist framework that demeans women as irrational, silly and unreliable witnesses.
It makes us not want to come forward because it’ll be, hey, we just can’t take a joke.
It actually makes things worse for Cuomo. It’s a slap in the face to the women who came forward, and a harsh reminder to the millions of women who might want to come forward but see now that powerful men will still try to put them in their place if they do. Maybe this time, with the blowback Cuomo is facing from his own party, it will end up differently for the women.
This is what is known as a “Bill Clinton Apology.”
LOL,
This is just misdirection from the real scandal where he murdered 15k elderly people and covered it up.
These harrassment incidents, while scummy, are hardly bombshells. “Can I kiss you”? Give me a break. They are nothing compared to Biden the molester.
So Cuomo may resign or may not, but this will have served its purpose to get the attention off the real crimes. Good thing Cuomo had these transgression in his back pocket, so he could use them in an emergency.
Cuomo’s political career is on the ropes. There is blood in the water and the sharks are circling. OH! AND BY THE WAY... se cupp is NO “conservative”, she’s a media attention hound, she’ll do ANYTHING for attention! She could pour gasoline on herself and light herself on fire, I wouldn’t watch, much less put her out!
It is very nearly impossible for the human mind to imagine anyone LESS "playful" than Andrew Cuomo.
Oh and the Governor’s brother, Fredo, “accidentally” posed naked on camera when his wife was streaming a yoga workout.
Murdering old people, well...they’ll die soon anyway and so long as they keep voting, so what. But making passes at female subordinates! Giving mealy-mouthed apologies to the press! Where’d I put my pitchfork.
Look over here at the sexual harassment allegation.
Pay no attention to that nursing home killer allegation behind that curtain!
This is one of the weirdest political events in my life time.
Biden steals the election, Biden has obvious cognition issues, Biden is financially corrupt, Biden molests women and girls - then, the Democrat Party and the MSM destroy Cuomo?
What!
To hell with her, she’s a media attention whore who, if we look back not far in the distant past was probably praising Cuomo’s leadership during the pandemic and carried the media narrative of the Cuomosexual’s out there slobbering over his failed leadership. We don’t need her and she should be shunned.
Clownworld USA. Don’t send them in...they’re already here. Is John Wayne Gacy still alive?
https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/john-wayne-gacy-tv-series-documentary-peacock-trailer/
What’s next? Cuomo has illegitimate son story?
So what if he denies an allegation. Joe Biden denied he assaulted Tara Reid. And we see how far that went. Leave Andrew alone for crying out loud! /s
Mistress Kamala gave the green ligh to cancel KillerCuomo.
Stupid remarks will take down the thug just don’t say aloud how he killed thousands.
Today, anything a male says or does, or doesn’t say or doesn’t do, can be taken as sexual harassment and he is always considered guilty, and has no recourse.
Much of what cuuuooomo said and did was not sexual harassment.
Interesting that 3 bimbos all released their stories to the media about the same time. democrat central headquarters must have told them it’s time to tell their stories because they want to get rid of cuuuooomo and replace him with somebody worse.
The real crime is mass murder and the cover up.