Ex-NY governor stripped of Emmy

LOS ANGELES • Mr Andrew Cuomo, who resigned as New York governor over sexual harassment allegations, was stripped on Tuesday of the Emmy award he had won for his prime-time pandemic briefings.

The one-time Democratic Party heavyweight won global plaudits for his straight-talking television performances about the coronavirus as it raged through the United States early last year.

His performances, which came as then US President Donald Trump sowed confusion with incoherent messages about the health crisis, earned him the International Emmy Founders Award.

On Tuesday - the day after Mr Cuomo, 63, left the governor's mansion - the academy said it was taking back the gong.

"The International Academy announced today that in the light of the New York attorney-general's report and Andrew Cuomo's subsequent resignation as governor, it is rescinding his special 2020 International Emmy Award," the organisation said in a statement. "His name and any reference to his receiving the award will be eliminated from International Academy materials going forward."

Mr Cuomo's confident performance at the beginning of the pandemic led to talk of a possible presidential run, but his stock started to slide late last year as he became engulfed in accusations that he had covered up the true extent of Covid-19 deaths at nursing homes.

Several women came forward this year alleging that Mr Cuomo had behaved inappropriately towards them. The accusations culminated in an explosive report by state Attorney-General Letitia James released this month that said he had sexually harassed 11 women, including by engaging in unwanted touching.

Mr Cuomo strenuously denied the allegations and initially rejected calls to quit, including from President Joe Biden.

Sex And The City (1998 to 2004) star Cynthia Nixon, who ran against Mr Cuomo for the governorship in 2018, on Tuesday launched a Twitter broadside about her one-time rival.

"The difference between me and Andrew Cuomo? Neither of us is governor, but I still have my Emmy(s)," she tweeted.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE