Everyone knows that my Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo, has been accused of sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, and of making three accusers very uncomfortable. He issued a couple of apologetic statements the other day: an official one on his website, and a more personal one at the end of his COVID press conference. I've got links to both statements in this week's Wondering on Wednesday, if you haven't seen them yet.
Some people may have forgotten about another sexual harassment case with ties to Cuomo; I addressed them in this Meanwhile Back in Albany entry from December 2017.
It's everywhere, the insidious scourge of sexual harassment.
That was the opening sentence. And, it continued by explaining that 'everywhere' included, we were told, in the administration of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in New York City, Lisa Marie Cater alleges that William (call me Sam) Hoyt, who worked as head of the Empire State Development Corporation, repeatedly made unwanted advances, and further that the harassment was reported to and ignored by Cuomo's office, which is why Cuomo is a named defendant in the suit. The governor's office denies ignoring the complaints.
It was against that backdrop that the governor found himself on the receiving end of a question from Karen Dewitt, an award-winning, long-time journalist with New York Public Radio, on this issue
and it's safe to say that it didn't go well for the Sonofa Gov.
Dewitt noted the Hoyt allegations and asked Cuomo what he could do differently, and here's how he responded.
You have it going on in journalism. What are you going to do differently?
OK - sure, that's true, but this is a reporter talking to a governor who is a defendant in a sexual harassment case involving an appointee of the governor. There was some exchange after that comment, including a different reporter pointing out that the question was about state government. That didn't sit well.
No, it's about you and journalism (pointing his finger at the other reporter). And it's about you and journalism (turning to Dewitt and pointing again). And it's about state government. And it's about carpentry and it's about training forces... (Note: that last one may not be accurate, it was hard to understand what he said.)
Again, Dewitt asked if there was something that Cuomo could do differently. Apparently, his only option on that was to lecture Dewitt, using his best professorial intonation, especially at the end of this exchange.
We will have policies in state government, obviously, that affect state government, but I think you miss the point. When you "it's state government" you do a disservice to women, with all due respect, even though you're a woman.
Um... what the hell is that?
It went on like that, with him trying to change the subject, deflecting the questions about him, and talking about some bigger, "this has nothing to do with me" issue. At one point, Cuomo lectured the reporters on the need for them to see the bigger picture. In the emphasis I've added below, you can hear his voice, if you're at all familiar with how he speaks.
It's not government. It's society. It was Harvey Weinstein in the arts industry. It's comedians. It's politicians. It's chefs, right? It's systemic. It's societal. It's not one person in one area. It's not just Charlie Rose, right? It's not just Matt Lauer. It's not just journalists. It's societal.
Finally, slowing down the pace of his answer to something slower than a school closing chyron, he finished his lecture.
Understand. The. Breadth. Of. The. Problem
Which, frankly, is exactly what Dewitt and the other reporters were hoping Cuomo would do, specifically as it relates to him, not as it relates to anyone else.
Importantly, the lawsuit against Cuomo and the SECD was dismissed in 2018, with the judge giving several reasons for doing so, including that there were no allegations that Cuomo knew about or participated in the harassment. The case against Hoyt was dismissed in 2019.
Still, several questions remain, including a big one: Does Andrew Cuomo Understand. The. Breadth. Of. The. Problem?
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