Former CNN contributor Angela Rye said she was fired after Chris Cuomo, who was also terminated by the network, allegedly called her “tinsel crotch.”
Rye, who was a regular guest on the former CNN anchor’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” claimed she was fired after confronting Cuomo for allegedly making an inappropriate comment on a photo of herself in a bikini posted to social media on New Year’s Day in 2021, according to Page Six.
“It all began on New Year’s Day when I posted a picture of myself looking forward to the New Year in a gold sequin bikini on Instagram,” Rye said. “Cuomo screen-shot 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,” Rye continued, crying in front of her co-hosts. “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.”
“Happy new year, Tinsel Crotch” is one of the most insane texts ever sent 😭 pic.twitter.com/L17LXTFZsR
— Jack McGuire (@JackMacCFB) January 12, 2024
Rye said she believes Cuomo had her fired on Jan. 21, 2021 over the incident because her contract was terminated soon after she approached the former CNN anchor, Rye recounted on her iHeart podcast, “Native Land Pod.”
The network explained that Rye’s contract would not be renewed because “they would be focusing more on [COVID] coverage and less on politics,” but Rye said she knew that was an excuse because “two black women were hired for half [her] contributor rate right after.”
Rye said she regrets waiting to speak out, stating that she “was mad at [herself] for shrinking in the face of power when people depend on me to stand up, to speak up,” the outlet reported. She described Cuomo as “brutally cold” to her after she was fired. (RELATED: Chris Cuomo Scoffs, Throws Cold Water On Trump’s Indictment)
Cuomo was fired from CNN months after Rye in Dec. 2021 for a conflict of interest, according to the outlet. The former CNN anchor advised his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during the sexual misconduct scandal that caused his resignation on Aug. 23, 2021.