Former CNN host Chris Cuomo used the opening minutes of his NewsNation show Tuesday night to castigate the rest of the media for voraciously covering Justin Timberlake’s arrest for driving while intoxicated early that morning.
Telling his viewers that they “shouldn’t like” the coverage either, which he said was “traffic[king] in negativity” instead of offering “sympathy” towards the pop star, Cuomo said that the story was personal for him, not because he’s a “huge Justin Timberlake fan,” but because he lives “near where he was busted, right near Sag Harbor, New York.”
“Now don’t get it twisted, DUI matters,” Cuomo clarified, lest it seem like he was excusing the singer’s alleged behavior. Instead, his beef was with the media making such a big deal about it when similar incidents involved non-celebrities go unremarked upon. “It’s the appetite for the gotcha that consumes us,” he added. “To show Justin Timberlake—and now let’s fit him in with all the other celebrities who have done this. Let’s judge him. Let’s judge them because it makes us feel better about ourselves.”
