CNN’s Chris Cuomo Recorded on Video Enraged After Man Calls Him ‘Fredo’

CNN news reporter Chris Cuomo was recently recorded on video becoming enraged after a man called him the highly debated ethnic slur, “Fredo,” which is a reference from The Godfather films — specifically referring to Fredo Corleone, the son of Vito Corleone.

In the clip, the esteemed news anchor explains: “Fredo is from The Godfather, he was a weak brother and the use of it to an Italian is disparaging.”

After firing off how, “Punk a— b—es from the right called me ‘Fredo.’ My name is Chris Cuomo, I’m an anchor on CNN,” the situation continued to escalate, with Cuomo eventually saying, “Don’t f—ing insult me like that. You call me ‘Fredo,’ it’s like I call you punk b—, you like that?”

The man appears to continue trolling Cuomo by insisting that he believed the newscaster’s name to be “Fredo,” leading to Cuomo saying, “You did not think that … stand up like a man. Own what you said.”

Eventually, Cuomo gets very heated and says, “I’ll f—ing throw you down these stairs like a f—ing punk … you’re gonna call me Fredo, take a f—ing swing? I’ll f—ing wreck your s—.”

Cuomo has since responded to the viral video, apologizing for his behavior and explaining that he knows it was extreme.

“Appreciate all the support but – truth is I should be better than the guys baiting me. This happens all the time these days,” he tweeted. “Often in front of my family. But there is a lesson: no need to add to the ugliness; I should be better than what I oppose.”

Many Twitter users have responded to Cuomo’s apology tweet, with a number of them showing support for the journalist.

“You did absolutely nothing wrong. As I understood it the guy attacked you in front of your daughter….I would have reacted the same way,” one person said.

“I thought your response was an honest one. I have six brothers and any one of them would have reacted in the same way. It was a very human reaction to all that’s going on,” another person offered.

Cuomo Prime Time airs weeknights at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

Photo Credit: Gilbert Carrasquillo / GC Images / Getty