Chris Cuomo called out the media for its “mean,” “nasty,” “clickbait” coverage of his interview with a TikToker with Tourettes Syndrome, who flipped him off and repeatedly cursed him out on air Tuesday evening.
During the interview, the NewsNation host couldn’t hold a straight face as Baylen Dupree, a 21-year-old influencer, unleashed a barrage of involuntary profanities at Cuomo while describing her struggle with the neurological disorder.
Cuomo claimed in a video on X Wednesday night that the media “twisted” the interview, and ridiculed him for “laughing” at Dupree, who blurted out “Go f–k yourself, Chris! Little baby weiner, Banana up your a–! Butter your own biscuit, fat a–!” during the segment.
“Even if you twisted it, thanks for covering it,” Cuomo posted, alongside the video in which he showed coverage of the interview that he felt was “mean.”
He called out the Daily Mail’s headline: “Chris Cuomo erupts with laughter as he interviews TikToker with Tourette’s and she repeatedly tells him to ‘f-k off’ and adopts a British accent,” as well as Mediaite’s headline: “F-k off, f-you, Chris Cuomo:’ Watch Chris Cuomo’s stunning and unforgettable talk with Tourette’s influencer.”
“I believe they were saying I was laughing at her,” Cuomo griped, referring to the Daily Mail headline. “That’s the suggest. Why? Because that’s mean and mean is clickbait and taking a bite out of my behind makes them money. But it’s also what feeds the instinct to be nasty in the first place. This is what we are.”
He added: “It makes it sound like someone went off on me on the show….the kid didn’t come on my show to curse at me. It’s a tick, it’s not a quote, it’s not intentional. By the way most of what she said about me? True. It shows that that’s our inclination: being nasty. Being nasty sells.”
Some users rallied to Cuomo’s side on X, saying that they had “sympathy” for him during the interview, as he struggled to keep his cool.
“@ChrisCuomo this is the very first time I’ve ever felt sympathy for you, while at the same time laughing with you. I had to watch it a second time too, just to be sure, and ended up shedding some very real tears the second watch, laughing with you. Thank you,” said one user.
“I hated most of your stuff until this one. I’ve followed her for a very long time. You proved yourself a human. Thanks,” posted another fan.
The disgraced anchor — who joined the struggling, lesser known NewsNation in 2022 after getting booted from CNN for helping his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fight sexual harassment allegations — has more frequently been the butt of jokes these days than the receiver of praise.
But several fans also expressed their gratitude to Cuomo for “normalizing neurodiversity” by interviewing Dupree, who boasts 9 million followers on TikTok.
During the interview, Dupree shared how she receives comments from “evil people” who tell her that her parents “deserved to die in a car accident because I’m faking my condition.”
“I’ve had to have the police out my house because people gave out my location and said they’re gonna come torch my house. It’s crazy,” Dupree said as Cuomo shook his head in disapproval.
Tourettes Syndrome affects as many as 1.4 million children and adults across the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The influencer was officially diagnosed with the disorder in 2018, though she had been exhibiting signs since her childhood.
She said her condition worsened during the pandemic.
Tics can get worse due to high-stress or -anxiety situations — such as appearing on a national news program.
In a pre-interview segment, Cuomo admitted he was initially one of many who believed she was a “great comedic actor” who had been faking her disorder for attention, but that since speaking to her at length, he realized her “bravery.”
“She says some pretty ugly stuff unintentionally,” Cuomo said through giggling. “And I’m laughing because I get what it’s about. And that’s why I don’t care. It’s not curse words to be mean and the difference matters.”
Despite Cuomo’s intermittent laughter during the interview, Dupree brushed them off and honed in on her message about how she is bringing awareness to the struggles of people with Tourette’s.
“I get thousands of DMS, from parents, from teachers, from girls that have been diagnosed with Tourette’s and they’ve had to be kicked out of school for attention seeking because they rip up their homework or do things like that … I’ve had parents reach out to me asking me, ‘Oh, my son’s coming home with a girlfriend and his girlfriend has Tourette Syndrome,’” Dupree said of the community she’s built around her TikTok.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
