Former CNN host Chris Cuomo enjoys a lazy Sunday in the Hamptons

Former CNN host Chris Cuomo was spotted on a coffee run with his wife Cristina in the Hamptons on Sunday, days after the host filed his first motion demanding $125 million in severance from the network. Cuomo, 51, looked casual in a grey hoodie, blue joggers and On brand black sneakers as he drove his black Ford F-150 and stepped out to deliver some packages. He capped off his look with a hat from Core, Sean Penn’s emergency relief nonprofit.

The sighting comes days after Cuomo accused CNN and his former colleagues of mounting a smear campaign against him after he was fired for helping his governor brother fight sexual harassment allegations. 

In a filing last Wednesday, Cuomo charged CNN with ruining his reputation and violating his contract by letting employees publicly criticize him as he seeks a nine-figure payout from the news channel. The filing states: ‘Jake Tapper, a CNN anchor, publicly assailed Cuomo’s ethics as a journalist and falsely claimed that Cuomo “threatened” Zucker. Don Lemon, another CNN anchor, falsely claimed that Cuomo had been “found to break with those journalistic standards and then [was] paid handsomely for it.”

‘Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media correspondent, said Cuomo was “acting like an unpaid staffer” for Gov. Cuomo and had been “trying to burn the place down” after CNN terminated him,’ according to the filing obtained by Mediaite.

Chris was joined by his wife Cristina, 52, a former editor of Manhattan File magazine. The couple share are parents to Bella, 19; Mario, 16; and Carolina, 13. She is a native of Southampton and married Chris in 2001. She’s the founder of Hamptons wellness publication the Purist, according to The Sun.

Cristina wore a grey peacoat and grey sweatpants with rainbow stripes as she stopped to drop off some packages with her husband. 

The former host of Cuomo Prime Time was fired in December when it was revealed he advised his brother, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, after the state’s top prosecutor found he sexually harassed 11 different women.

CNN President Jeff Zucker resigned in February after it was revealed that he had an undisclosed relationship with a network executive. Some, including Jake Tapper, suggested that Cuomo was the one who leaked the information to secure a better exit package. 

Cuomo, who earned $6 million a year at CNN, is now asking for $110 million in damages and $15 million that is allegedly due to him under his contract, Deadline reports. ‘As a result of Turner’s indefensible choice to unceremoniously fire him, Cuomo has been damaged in countless ways,’ Cuomo’s attorneys argue. ‘Cuomo has had his journalistic integrity unjustifiably smeared, making it difficult if not impossible for Cuomo to find similar work in the future and damaging him in amounts exceeding $125 million, which includes not only the remaining salary owed under the Agreement, but future wages lost as a result of CNN’s efforts to destroy his reputation in violation of the Agreement.’

Cuomo’s firing kicked off a series of shake-ups at CNN. Zucker resigned last month amid an investigation into his relationship with vice president Allison Gollust, who also resigned. Zucker recently finalized a deal for an exit package worth $10 million. Gollust was reportedly paid $1 million. Cuomo and CNN are currently locked in private arbitration over his own exit deal. 

The Wednesday filing against CNN also claims that Zucker (pictured right) knew about Cuomo’s closeness with his brother and that he himself had cultivated a friendly relationship with the former governor. It also claims that the network did not do enough to prevent Cuomo’s colleagues from criticizing him publicly, in violation of his contract. ‘An additional, and similarly significant, legally unjustifiable breach of the Agreement was the complete failure by Zucker to abide by the terms of the Agreement by failing to instruct CNN employees not to disparage Cuomo,’ the filing reads. ‘After Cuomo’s termination, Zucker claimed that Cuomo had broken his word and that Cuomo misrepresented the extent of his support for his brother. Other CNN staff joined in the calculated campaign to smear Cuomo and destroy his reputation.’

At a private meeting in DC last month following Zucker’s resignation, Cuomo’s former colleagues made it clear there was no love lost between them and the former anchor. Host Jake Tapper alluded to the theory that Cuomo leaked information about Zucker’s relationship with an executive to secure a better exit package. ‘An outside observer might say, “Well, looks like Chris Cuomo succeeded. He threatened. Jeff said, We don’t negotiate with terrorists, and Chris blew the place up.” How do we get past that perception that this is the bad guy winning?’ he said. ‘I think the issue is that it’s not a perception. What Jake just described is actually what happened here,’ echoed Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. 

At a different meeting, the New York-based anchors also mourned Zucker’s resignation and placed blame on Cuomo for triggering his ouster. Richard Quest (pictured), host of the daily show Quest Means Business on CNN International, told WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar: ‘There was the possibility of a more imaginative result that would’ve allowed you to keep the captain, instead of throwing the captain overboard while the ship is about to go through icebergs.’ 

Erin Burnett (pictured), who hosts the network’s 7pm hour, said she and her colleagues were ‘grieving’ and demanded more information about Zucker’s departure. ‘Moving on will require answers to these questions,’ she said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, hosts Don Lemon and Oliver Darcy questioned Kilar, 50, on whether former host Chris Cuomo would get a severance package from CNN. ‘Did you think about what message it sends to the journalists in the company and also to the larger public that someone can be found to break with those journalistic standards and then get paid handsomely for it,’ Lemon reportedly asked Kilar.