Disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was stripped of his Emmy Award on Tuesday due to sexual harassment allegations substantiated in the state attorney general’s probe that delivered the death knell to his gubernatorial reign.
“The International Academy announced today that in light of the New York Attorney General’s report, and Andrew Cuomo subsequent resignation as governor, it is rescinding his special 2020 international Emmy Award,” reads a statement from the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
“His name and any reference to his receiving the award will be eliminated from International Academy material going forward.”
Cuomo was bestowed the award in November 2020 for his COVID-19 pandemic press briefings.The scandal-scarred governor, who formally resigned Monday, was formerly recognized for his “effective use of television during the pandemic,” the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced.
But on Monday, the institution made the rare move to rescind the award from the former Hollywood darling.
“That’s great news! The Academy now sees what we see in Cuomo,” said Councilman Robert Holden, who sent a letter to the Academy in February urging them to yank Cuomo’s Emmy award.
“And this is the least of Cuomo’s problems,” the Queens lawmaker added. “We still have the investigations of COVID nursing home deaths and allegations that he used paid government staff to draft his book.”
Actor Cynthia Nixon, Cuomo’s 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary opponent, appeared to relish in the latest in her rival’s fall from grace.
“The difference between me and Andrew Cuomo? Neither of us is governor, but I still have my Emmy(s),” she said in a tweet Tuesday.
The decision to strip his award, though not common, isn’t without precedent. Similarly dishonored alleged creep Kevin Spacey in October 2017 had his Emmy award rescinded by the academy. Comedian Bill Cosby, who in June had his conviction for sexual assault conviction overturned after several years in prison, never had his honors pulled.
In the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, Cuomo used daily, often nationally televised briefings to provide running commentary on the virus’ spread, projecting an assured, informed aura.
“The Governor’s 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure,” Bruce Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy, previously said.
“People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and ‘New York tough’ became a symbol of the determination to fight back.”
The briefings were comforting to many liberals, with some “Cuomosexuals” even professing their attraction to the 63-year-old.
The former governor’s performances often featured strange gags and remarks — and repeat bits like reminding New Yorkers the day of the week on Saturdays as New Yorkers’ regular schedules had been thrown out of whack by the pandemic-induced stay-at-home precautions.
In June 2020, the gov-turned-showman displayed a bizarre, $415.34 COVID-19 mountain meant to illustrate the Empire State’s battle against the virus. While joined by Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease doctor, he compared the fellow Italian American and himself to actors Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
And while stricken with COVID-19, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, the former governor’s little brother, called in to detail his experience with the bug.
On Sunday, with just 36 hours left in office, Cuomo reprised his man-in-charge role one last time. But toward the end of the banter-filled one-man show on the weekend storm, he broke character to concede, “Yes, my final day is tomorrow.”
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