Chris Cuomo may sue for $18 million if he isn't paid the remainder of his CNN contract

Mediaite

CNN president Jeff Zucker reportedly told staffers today during a town hall meeting that Cuomo wasn't given a severance package when he was fired last Saturday. According to Puck News' Matt Belloni, Cuomo has hired Bryan Freedman, the attorney who handled Megyn Kelly's lucrative exit from NBC, for potential litigation. During Zucker's meeting with staffers this morning, he said Cuomo’s behavior conflicted with CNN’s standards and practices in a way that was “too far and deserved termination.” Zucker also contested the notion that Cuomo wasn't disciplined earlier this year for helping brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his sex harassment scandal. According to The Wrap, Zucker said, “I don’t think that there was no discipline back then. It was a reprimand, it was a public rebuke and it was a final warning that it could not happen again but I think that is a lesson we have all learned from.” Zucker was asked whether he has “regret” for not suspending Cuomo sooner and said: “Hindsight in all of this is very easy and I do feel, as I’ve said before, and I said again this morning, this was a very unique situation and so we did allow for some leeway for Chris that, you know, was unique to that situation for somebody in that role with a brother in that role during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. So, I do think that we tried to make the right decisions at the right times.” ALSO: HarperCollins cancels Cuomo's forthcoming book, originally titled Deep Denial.