You’ll find no love whatsoever from most conservatives for fired ex-CNN “Prime Time” host Chris Cuomo, but one area where’s been shown to be right is in his claim that CNN was well aware of how deeply he was involved in advising his brother Andrew Cuomo – precisely because they, too, took part in the advising of the disgraced former governor starting well before the 2021 sexual harassment scandals that ultimately ended up being the senior Cuomo’s undoing.

Until now, we’d only gotten dribs and drabs (including paraphrased text messages) from news outlets like the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal of what reportedly went on behind the scenes at the network concerning them acting more in a “publicist” role than an adversarial one with Andrew Cuomo, including insider info on how former executive VP Allison Gollust and former CNN president Jeff Zucker took on coaching roles for Cuomo on his daily pandemic briefings, partly as a way to help CNN’s ratings during the noon timeslot and partly to try and embarrass then-President Trump.

But in a new blockbuster report from Rolling Stone of all places, receipts were brought to the table showing the extent of CNN’s cheerleading for Andrew Cuomo and their work behind closed doors to shape coverage that was more favorable to him.

The article started off by talking about how during the early days of the coronavirus outbreak here in the U.S., Trump and Cuomo had a phone conversation that Trump ended up discussing in vague detail with the media regarding possible temporary quarantines for parts of New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. When Cuomo was asked about Trump’s comments by the press during a briefing, he didn’t have much more to offer beyond a casual shrug, wondering how it would be beneficial from a medical perspective.

But when Cuomo appeared on CNN later that evening, he harshly rebuked Trump, talking about how a quarantine would create “chaos and mayhem” for the region from an economic and financial standpoint, while fielding what Rolling Stone described as “tailor-made”-sounding questions for Cuomo from anchor Ana Cabrera. Here’s where the Rolling Stone story picks up from there:

What viewers did not know is that in the hours between Cuomo’s Albany press conference and his CNN dinner-hour appearance, he corresponded directly with CNN leadership. Firing off a text to the network’s top marketing and communications executive, Allison Gollust — who had also been his own publicist a few years prior — Cuomo wrote, in an apparent reference to CNN President Jeff Zucker, “Ask Jeff to call me plz.” Zucker’s representatives say he has “no record” of speaking to Cuomo that day. Regardless, Cuomo landed on a talking point sure to grab Trump’s attention. And Zucker certainly knew exactly which levers to pull when it came to the president, given their long and lucrative relationship via the reality show The Apprentice.

About 30 minutes before Cuomo appeared on CNN by remote feed, Gollust emailed a programing staffer, cc’ing Zucker, and offered the governor as a last-minute guest to talk about Trump’s proposed quarantine. She then told Zucker that the governor would like to speak with him. When the segment ended, Gollust texted Cuomo: “Well done . . . Cuomo-W. Trump-L.”

The story also hinted at what possibly may have been a more intimate relationship between Gollust and Cuomo, with Cuomo allegedly using coded language at one point and Gollust seemingly reciprocating:

In early 2020, Cuomo texted Gollust, “You don’t want to see me now that I’m single?” She replied, “A drink with you would be the best date I’ve had in a while.” Four months later, he fired off a text to Gollust suggesting he be her “pool boy.” https://t.co/9XJ1RsSFdC

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) March 11, 2022

The texts went beyond banter. When a rumor circulated that Trump was about to shut down NYC, Gollust invited the guv to “squash it” on CNN. She quipped to her ex-boss, “I’m pretty sure I stopped being your publicist 8 years ago, but apparently I still am.” https://t.co/9XJ1RsSFdC

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) March 11, 2022

A spokesperson for both Zucker and Gollust responded to the Rolling Stone report as they did to the reports that broke in February, suggesting Rolling Stone’s claims were “far-fetched” and “patently ridiculous.” But we heard these types of denials all throughout 2021 when CNN was increasingly getting criticized even by some at normally CNN-friendly news outlets, and the denials held about as much water then as they do now.

Under new management, CNN is said to be getting ready to clean house and get back to actual news reporting rather than covering for Democrats and starting deliberate flame wars with Republicans and Fox News, which would be a welcome development. That said, I’ll believe it when – and if – I see it.

Flashback –>> Report: The Chickens Come Home to Roost for Chris Wallace