Chris Cuomo applied to be a volunteer firefighter after CNN sacked him

Ousted CNN broadcaster Chris Cuomo applied to be a volunteer firefighter in his glitzy East Hampton neighborhood, but later withdrew his application because he couldn’t handle the time commitments.

The 51-year-old, who lives in the prestigious New York district renowned for its affluent residents, seemed ‘eager’ to be a part of the volunteer squad but ‘baulked’ at the time investment, according to sources cited by The Daily Beast .

‘There are monthly meetings and drills and you have to meet a percentage of your calls,’ East Hampton Fire Department Chief Duane Forrester told The Daily Beast’s Confider newsletter. ‘That’s why we don’t have many celebrities.’ Cuomo is pictured in Sag Harbor last week. 

The former primetime news anchor was fired by CNN in December after he was caught advising scandal-plagued brother, ex-governor of New York Andrew Cuomo, through sexual misconduct allegations while clinging on to his spot as the network’s top broadcaster.

In the months that followed, Cuomo was accused of trying to bring the network down with him by exposing an affair between former boss Jeff Zucker and his aide Allison Gollust, as well as launching a staggering $125million lawsuit against his former employer.

The broadcaster’s half-hearted attempt to become a firefighter is the latest twist in his post-CNN career which has also seen him travel to Ukraine (where he is pictured) with actor Sean Penn to witness the fallout of the war with Russia, while also launching a range of ‘free agent’ merchandise – all while flexing his muscles and puffing on cigars across social media. Cuomo took to Instagram last week to tell America to ‘pay more attention’ to what is happening along the frontlines in Ukraine. 

‘What is happening right now in Ukraine is bad and America should be paying a lot more attention,’ he said. ‘I went to the eastern front… Outmanned and outgunned we had to hide behind abandoned buildings.’ He likened the conflict to ‘WW2’ and compared Ukrainians to Americans fighting the War of Independence. ‘Ukrainians sound like Americans 240yrs ago vs the British. They are laying down their lives to keep the freedoms we have here. ‘The interest here has slowed…the war is only accelerating. I will show you more reason to care… soon. Thank you for the interest.’ He then instructed his followers to ‘be a #freeagent’ like him.

His posts, supposedly from regions near to the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, came as the former primetime anchor also began flogging ‘free agent’ merchandise in something of a rebrand following his firing by CNN. The disgraced broadcaster is selling a range of free agent-branded clothing, and also recently took to Instagram to tease a major comeback to his 1.1m followers.

Puffing on a cigar and flexing his muscles, Cuomo wrote: ‘Something’s coming… Summer ’22.’ His spokesman Steven Goldberg refused to say what that ‘something’ is going to be.