Chris Cuomo's wife Cristina details family's verbal attack on Easter© GettyImages

Chris Cuomo’s wife Cristina details family’s verbal attack: ‘We felt threatened’

The CNN anchor had a confrontation with a cyclist on Easter Sunday


UPDATED APRIL 22, 2020 11:24 AM EDT

There are two sides to every story, and Cristina Cuomo is sharing hers.  Chris Cuomo ’s wife opened up to  Extra ’s Billy Bush about a cyclist who confronted her husband outside their Hamptons home on Easter Sunday (April 12). “He was trespassing on private property, on our neighbor’s property…We were off quarantine at that point, based on the CDC’s two-week policy, and it was Easter Sunday and we went out for some fresh air,” she recalled. “He started yelling at Chris. We felt threatened.”

Chris Cuomo's wife opened up about their Easter Sunday incident with a cyclist© Getty Images
Chris Cuomo‘s wife opened up about their Easter Sunday incident with a cyclist

The man ended up filing a complaint with police, however Cristina revealed, “When the police looked into it, they saw that he had a record, reputation for causing trouble in the community, and quickly realized he had been lying about his whereabouts. He wasn’t on the road, he was actually perched on our neighbors’ property trespassing, and [the police] quickly dismissed it. He was definitely looking to start some trouble and it was disconcerting...Apparently, he seeks out attention on a regular basis, doing this to people in the community. That kind of level of trouble is really intolerable to me.”

Chris, who was diagnosed with coronavirus last month, previously spoke about the incident on his SiriusXm radio show. He said, “I don’t want some jacka*s, loser, fat tire biker to be able to pull over and get in my face and in my space and talk bullsh*t to me. I don’t want to hear it.” The CNN anchor noted that he wished he could have told the biker to “go to hell.”

The 65-year-old biker, who has been identified as David Whelan, recently shared his side of the story with  Inside Edition . He claimed he told Chris, “You‘re supposed to be quarantining, what are you doing out?“ adding, ”What are you doing with all these people? I said, ‘You’re not even practicing social distancing.’”According to David, Chris came closer to him and said, “Who the hell are you? What do you know about this? What do you know about the rules?” “I did tell him, ’Your brother is the coronavirus czar, why aren’t you following his rules?’ That didn’t make him happy,” David continued. “He was coming closer and closer, very angry. He said, ‘You have not seen the last of me over this. You will meet me again over this.’”

Chris has since come out of quarantine.  On April 20, the journalist shared a video of himself emerging from his family’s basement where he was quarantining . “The moment I could finally emerge from my basement. LETS GET AFTER IT!!!,” he captioned the video taped by his daughter Bella. In the clip, Chris said, “This is what I’ve been dreaming of literally for weeks.” He also revealed that his  wife, who tested positive for COVID-19, was no longer displaying symptoms  and has been “cleared by the CDC.” While Cristina has recovered, she told Extra that her son Mario might have the novel virus. “I think he has the virus now. We haven’t had him tested yet, but he has the same sinus cold that I do and yesterday he lost his sense of taste and smell and now he’s in his own quarantine in his room,” she revealed on April 21. “The anxiety of over passing it along to family members is really intense, and it also shows you the longevity of this virus. Here we are, 30 days into it, and no sign of re-entry for us yet, and it’s debilitating. It can be emotionally debilitating.”