Former CNN contributor Angela Rye is upset for not speaking up for herself when Chris Cuomo, a one-time network darling, took a screenshot of a bikini photo she posted on Instagram and texted it to her with the message: “Happy New Year tinsel crotch.”
According to the political “it” girl, she didn’t report the sexual harassment because she was afraid that speaking out would block her from getting certain opportunities.
Rye spoke about the three-year-old exchange on her new podcast “Native Land Pod” with co-hosts Tiffany Cross and Andrew Gillum on iHeart Radio on Friday, Jan. 12. She detailed the devastating after-effects of calling Cuomo out for his egregious comments and why she believes it led to her eventual firing.
“It all began on New Year’s Day [2021] when I posted a picture of myself looking forward to the New Year in a gold sequin bikini on Instagram,” she read on the podcast before breaking out in tears.
“Cuomo screenshot the image and said, ‘Happy New Year, tinsel crotch.’ Stunned, I read and reread the message a dozen times, trying to understand if I somehow brought this on myself. I teared up, like now, and then the tears flowed. I felt like the safest place I had on a show on CNN had been compromised,” Rye continued. A few hours later, Rye says that Cuomo texted her, “Hello,” and the following day, called to discuss a prominent role for her as a ‘regular’ in which she would ‘check the left.’
“Truthfully, I had my doubts on the genuine nature of this idea. Cuomo came up with this particular segment idea after a text exchange that went woefully wrong,” Rye said, expressing that she felt conflicted about Cuomo’s offer. On the one hand, she was excited about the opportunity to be part of a new segment on CNN. However, she also felt Cuomo demonstrated behavior that might suggest he was not sincere about the new opportunity. Due to her uncertainty, she waited about a week before checking back in on the “genuine nature of this idea.”
Approximately ten days later, on Jan. 21, 2021, Rye says she was contacted by CNN execs who informed her that her contract would not be renewed and that “CNN — right after January 6, and a historical election where we got our first ever Black VP, who was a woman and [Rye’s] friend — would be focusing more on COVID coverage and less on politics.”
However, Rye isn’t buying CNN’s COVID excuse and suspects her negative reaction to Cuomo’s advance might have prompted him to say something to the higher-ups at the network.
“I knew it was a lie, and it was confirmed when two Black women were hired for half my contributor rate right after,” she said.
Approximately 11 months later, Cuomo would be fired by CNN in December 2021. The network accused him of advising his older brother Andrew Cuomo — who was then the governor of New York — during the elder Cuomo sexual harassment scandal, posing an ethical breach of Chris Cuomo’s contract. Andrew Cuomo resigned from office in August 2021, and to this date both brothers deny wrongdoing. Chris Cuomo is currently suing CNN.
Social media was mixed on Rye’s explosive #MeToo claim. Some social media users brought up Rye’s friendship with Charlamagne Tha God, who was accused of “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously [engaging] in penile/vaginal intercourse with a 15-year-old female child” in 2001 when he was 22 years old. Charlamagne was charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Charlamagne has claimed he cooperated with authorities and submitted to DNA testing that his lawyers say shows he had no physical contact with the accuser. Charlamagne’s charges were later reduced to a lesser charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and he was sentenced to three years of probation.
“AR, I appreciate the work you do. But the irony of you not addressing any of the valid critiques about your misogynistic, sexually abusive BFF while telling us you cried about Chris Cuomo calling you tinsel crotch because of a pic YOU posted at THAT angle, like sis c’mon now,” one person tweeted in regards to Rye’s friendship with the controversial radio host.
AR, I appreciate the work you do, but the irony of you not addressing any of the valid critiques about your misogynistic, sexually abusive BFF while telling us you cried about Chris Cuomo calling you tinsel crotch because of a pic YOU posted at THAT angle, like sis c’mon now… pic.twitter.com/oZd5Xgry6F
— Jennifer D. Laws (@jenniferdlaws) January 14, 2024
Another person asserted that Rye’s revelation was a ploy to get ratings, stating, “What a way to get an audience.”
Some people were sympathetic to Rye and challenged Cuomo to step up and make it right if the allegations were true.
“@ChrisCuomo If the story stated by Angela Rye is true, WHY would you say something like that?” an X user asked. “It was NOT funny!! Where is your public apology? @angela_rye continue to keep your head up.”
Rye says that Cuomo audaciously reached out to her last year to check her temperature and see if she was upset with him.
“I was, but I was really mad at myself,” she said. “I was mad at myself for not saying anything sooner. Because I was lacking courage and preferring my financial well-being over my mental health, not standing up for women who are often left powerless in these situations.”
Rye went on to say, “I was mad at myself for protecting your image with the Black women I know who loved you and looked forward to hearing your voice. I know I’m not the only one, and truthfully, I’m mad about that, too, that everyone has given you a pass for fear of what it might mean to hold you accountable for clearly inappropriate behavior and overstepping. I was mad at myself for shrinking in the face of power when people depend on me to stand up, to speak up. This was harder for me because we were legitimately cool. We had a great rapport, and I was worried about damaging a friendship and a working relationship that you had actually damaged. I tried to redirect you repeatedly, and you abused the grace you did not deserve.”
Rye then shared one final closing message to Cuomo: “So no Chris, I won’t be a guest on your program now or later,” she said. “Thank you for the platform. It was not worth all of the mental and emotional turmoil. And I thank God that I’m clear about the fact that you can’t take away a voice you never created. You, or the network executives who enabled you.”
Today, Rye is a special correspondent for ESPN and Principal and CEO of IMPACT Strategies.
