London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Andrew Cuomo Says He's Sorry - But Won't Resign Over Those Sexual Harassment Claims

Andrew Cuomo Says He's Sorry - But Won't Resign Over Those Sexual Harassment Claims

Cuomo said he “never touched anyone inappropriately,” despite one woman saying he kissed her without consent and a photo of another woman looking visibly uncomfortable as Cuomo grabbed her cheeks.

After three women accused him of sexual harassment and making unwanted advances, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo publicly apologized on Wednesday, but said he would not resign.

“I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. It was unintentional and I truly and deeply apologize for it,” Cuomo said at a press briefing. “I feel awful about it and, frankly, I am embarrassed by it.”

Despite his apology, Cuomo said he “never touched anyone inappropriately” and urged people to “wait for the facts...before forming an opinion.”

Two of the women have accused Cuomo of touching them inappropriately, with one saying he kissed her without her consent in his office and another recalling that he aggressively grabbed her cheeks at a wedding and asked to kiss her. A photo has circulated of the latter incident, showing the woman appearing frightened.

Cuomo was first accused of harassment by a former aide, Lindsey Boylan, who worked in his office from 2015 to 2018. In a Feb. 24 Medium post, Boylan said Cuomo asked her to play strip poker and repeatedly made comments indicating he found her attractive. She also said he kissed her on the lips once in his Manhattan office in 2018.

A second former aide, Charlotte Bennett, 25, told the New York Times that Cuomo repeatedly asked her questions about her sex life and once asked her if she “had ever been with an older man.” Bennett left Cuomo’s office in November, and said much of the harassment occurred during the height of the pandemic, a time during which Cuomo became a prominent political figure nationally.

“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett said. “And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”

Debra Katz, an attorney representing Bennett, said in a statement that Cuomo’s press conference was “full of falsehoods and inaccurate information.”

“New Yorkers deserve better,” Katz said.

The third woman, Anna Ruch, told the New York Times she met Cuomo at a wedding in September 2019 and he acted in an “aggressive” manner toward her, touching her despite her visible discomfort and and asking to kiss her.

Speaking on Wednesday, Cuomo acknowledged Ruch’s claims, including the photo of him grabbing her face, but said this was how he commonly greets people and noted that his father, former New York governor Mario Cuomo, did the same.

“You can find hundreds of pictures of me making the same gesture with hundreds of people — women, men, children, et cetera... It is my usual and customary way of greeting,” he said. “If they felt pain from it, I apologize. I did not intend it, I didn’t mean it that way, but if that’s how they felt, that’s all that matters, and I apologize.”

People attend a March 2 protest to demand New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation after a third woman accused him of sexual harassment.


Cuomo has agreed to be investigated by state Attorney General Letitia James, and reiterated Wednesday that he will “fully cooperate” with the probe.

Since the women have gone public about their interactions with the governor, calls have risen for him to resign. Many have come from his fellow New York Democrats, including Rep. Kathleen Rice, State Sen. James Skoufis, and New York City mayoral candidates Scott Stringer and Maya Wiley. The state’s progressive Working Families Party also released a petition calling for Cuomo’s resignation.

In the Wednesday briefing, Cuomo criticized them, saying, “Politicians will always play politics.”

“I’m not going to resign,” Cuomo said. “I work for the people of the state of New York. They elected me, and I’m going to serve the people of the state of New York.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×