Chris Cuomo responds after being slammed for laughing while interviewing woman with Tourettes
Chris Cuomo recently found himself on the receiving end of a colossal wave of backlash after appearing to poke fun at someone with Tourettes.
He has since responded to accusations of inappropriate behavior.
The TV presenter and journalist had been interviewing a TikTok star that suffers with Tourettes Syndrome on live television when he visibly burst out laughing.
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Social media content creator Baylen Dupree, 21, had appeared on NewsNation's 'Cuomo' segment in order to raise awareness of the highs and lows of the neurological disorder.
This syndrome causes people to suffer with involuntary sounds, sporadic movements and restless tics, the most common of which include blinking, jerking of the head/arms, shouting.
Involuntary cursing or the urge to blurt out obscenities can also be a common symptom of the disorder, and in this particularly case, it was Dupree's swearing that had the on-screen host in fits of laughter.
During the purposely uncensored interview, the social media star branded host Cuomo a 'fat a**', before telling him: "F**k off, f**k off, f**k off," and "F**k you, Chris!"
A usually straight-faced Cuomo seemingly couldn't contain his amusement, and was seen to be laughing at the TikToker, who boasts 9 million followers online.
Dupree went on to repeated flip off the newsreader throughout the four minute interview, during which he attempted to suppress his smile.
But it all became too much for Cuomo, who broke down in hysterics mid-way through after the Internet star experienced heavy ticks for several seconds, causing her to squint her face, wave her hands and tell him: "Go f**k yourself, Chris!"
She went on to brand him a 'little baby weiner - banana up your a**', before telling him to 'butter your own biscuit, fat a**!'.
It is the seriousness of this disorder, however, that has led to the television presenter to be slammed online for not taking the interview seriously.
"Chris Cuomo interviews a girl with Tourettes syndrome, and well, you just need to listen for yourself," one viewer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Another went on: "Tourette’s is nothing to laugh about but I do have to admit those phrases do sum up Chris cuomo pretty well."
"Look at @ChrisCuomo laughing at Baylen Dupree as she experiences tics due to her Tourette’s syndrome. What a SCUMBAG," a third hit out.
The 53-year-old TV star has since responded to the backlash, telling viewers: "Last night, we did a story. It was a little dicey. People weren't sure we could do it because there was going to be a lot of cursing and Dusty and I didn't give a damn.
"And we were right. Why? Bayden Dupree has gone viral and for good reason. We loved giving her a platform to fight the stigma of having Tourettes Syndrome.
"Too many are mean and judgey, people have shamed her and recorded her because she has unusual tics. Her tics are like phrases, they're repeated and they're often vulgar.
"So, Bayden decided 'I'm not going to be held hostage by other people's thoughts about me'. She takes the TikTok to live her truth and she now has 9 million followers. She is getting paid for what some see as a problem!
"She is putting purpose to her pain and I love all the coverage it's getting, and the coverage shows us something."
Cuomo then proceeded to read out some of the headlines written about his laughter.
"They're saying I was laughing at her, that's what's suggested. Why? Because that's mean, and mean is clickbait," he said.
"And taking a bite out of my behind is what makes them [news outlets] money, but it's also what feeds the instinct to be nasty in the first place."
Cuomo continued: "If you're going to distort what it's about - the kid didn't come on my show to curse at me, it's a tic. It's not a quote. It's not intentional.
"And by the way, most of the things she said about me - true. So, it shows that that's our inclination - being nasty sells."
Topics: Film and TV, TikTok, Health, Celebrity
Rhianna Benson