Janice Dean Speaks Out: Holding Andrew and Chris Cuomo Accountable for COVID-19 Nursing Home Tragedy

Janice Dean, a well-known Fox News meteorologist, has been outspoken about the tragic loss of her in-laws, both of whom died in New York nursing homes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. After watching those in power avoid accountability, she has become a fierce advocate for justice, using her platform to shed light on the controversial actions of former Governor Andrew Cuomo and his brother, former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.q

Dean’s frustration reached a boiling point when she witnessed the Cuomo brothers joking on national television while thousands of nursing home residents, including her own in-laws, were dying. The now-infamous “Cuomo Comedy Hour” segment, featuring lighthearted banter between Chris and Andrew, enraged grieving families who were seeking answers.

A Turning Point: From Grief to Advocacy
Dean recalls that the moment she saw the lighthearted exchange on television, her grief transformed into rage. It was the day she decided to tell her story and demand accountability.

“We watched them joke around about ‘the Love Gov’ and use a giant cotton swab as a prop while nursing homes couldn’t even get COVID tests,” she said. “Meanwhile, Andrew Cuomo’s administration admitted over 9,000 COVID-positive patients into nursing homes, leading to devastating losses.”

For months, Dean and other families pushed for answers, only to face deflection and political maneuvering. But their persistence paid off when multiple investigations into Cuomo’s administration revealed a deliberate underreporting of nursing home deaths. The Department of Justice continues to look into these actions, even after Cuomo stepped down.

Justice Still Pending
Despite Andrew Cuomo resigning amid multiple scandals and Chris Cuomo being fired from CNN, Dean insists there is still work to be done. She believes criminal charges should be pursued against those responsible for covering up the nursing home death toll and mishandling the crisis.

“There are still ongoing investigations,” she said. “One of them could result in criminal charges, and I believe it should.”

Dean also pointed out that part of the cover-up may have been linked to Cuomo’s lucrative $5.2 million book deal, in which he touted his leadership during the pandemic while concealing the true death toll.

“If you had told me last year that Andrew Cuomo would be out of office and under investigation, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Dean admitted. “At one point, I even considered giving up. But I knew too many families were suffering in silence.”

A Family’s Pain and a Call for Answers
Dean’s husband, Sean, continues to mourn the loss of his parents, particularly during the holiday season. “We can never bring them back,” Dean said, “but we can demand accountability.”

Her biggest questions remain: Why were COVID-positive patients sent into nursing homes? Why were numbers covered up? Why did Chris Cuomo receive priority testing while nursing homes lacked basic resources?

Dean remains determined to find answers, advocating for transparency and justice for families like hers who lost loved ones due to what she believes was preventable mismanagement.

What’s Next?
Dean expresses gratitude for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who exposed Cuomo’s cover-up and played a key role in forcing him out of office. However, she acknowledges that the fight is far from over.

“I won’t stop until we get the truth,” she said. “If it weren’t for people like Letitia James standing up, Andrew Cuomo might still be in power today.”

As investigations continue, Dean remains steadfast in her commitment to ensuring that those responsible for the nursing home tragedy are held accountable. “This isn’t about politics,” she insists. “It’s about justice.”

Chris Cuomo allegedly blasted Janice Dean as ‘that Fox weather bitch’ in smear plot
Chris Cuomo schemed to discredit Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean, allegedly calling her “that Fox weather bitch” in texts after she criticized Gov. Andrew Cuomo for transferring COVID-19 patients to nursing homes.

Fox’s senior meteorologist Dean lost her mother and father-in-law to COVID in March and April of 2020, and became an outspoken critic of the governor and his deadly policy to allow COVID-19 patients into nursing homes, saying on “Fox & Friends,” “He needs to go to jail!”

According to a source, canned CNN anchor Chris wanted to fight to defend his brother and texted with Andrew’s staff about how to discredit Dean.

The source said Chris allegedly asked in a text to an Andrew Cuomo staffer how he could go after “this Fox weather bitch……Any help painting her as a far right crazy?”

It is also believed he participated in calls with the governor’s staff, including Melissa DeRosa, about how to hit back at Dean by focusing on her political leanings. However, as a meteorologist, she doesn’t usually get involved in politics.

Michael and Dolores Newman — the parents of Dean’s husband, Sean, known to family and friends as Mickey and Dee — died soon after the then-governor’s controversial policy was announced.

The 83-year-old Mickey, a former firefighter, was in the Grandell Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Brooklyn with dementia. He died on March 29, 2020.

Dee, 79, was in assisted living, at the Long Island Living Center, and hoped Mickey would join her when his health improved. She died on April 13.

Dean said she was appalled by Cuomo administration’s March 25 directive that nursing homes could not deny admission to someone solely because they had COVID-19. The policy was expanded to cover assisted living facilities on April 7.

Stories emerged about the lengths to which the governor and his staff went to cover up the number of virus deaths among nursing home residents in New York.

Dean has worked at Fox since 2004, and has told her in-law’s story on the air to Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Martha MacCallum and Harris Faulkner among others.

She said on “Fox & Friends,” in March 2021, “We knew he was covering up the numbers and now we are getting more and more information and facts to prove this is true. And the fact that his top aide Melissa de Rosa was in on it to help cover up the numbers, to downplay them.”

Dean continued, “They have never apologized to the families, 15,000 that deserve an apology. The only thing the governor is going to be sorry about is that he got caught.

“You know what — he needs to go to jail and all of those around him.”

Dean added of the work the governor’s staffers did to alter the numbers of nursing home COVID deaths just before the release of Andrew’s book depicting him as a hero, “Promoting that book and making money off of COVID and the deaths of our loved ones is disgusting, corrupt and it needs to be investigated.”

Chris Cuomo4
CNN recently fired Chris Cuomo over his alleged involvement in helping his brother Andrew smear his sexual harassment accusers. REUTERS
Dean said in a statement to Page Six on Friday, “As I have said from day one, this was never about politics.

“I watched first-hand how the governor’s office treated grieving families trying to get answers about the March 25th 2020 executive order to admit over 9,000 COVID positive patients into nursing homes.

“Instead of addressing our concerns or expressing their condolences, Cuomo’s spokesperson Rich Azzopardi called us a ‘death cult.”

Andrew and Chris Cuomo 4
Andrew and Chris Cuomo are currently unemployed after years in their prominent roles in media and government. Getty Images for HBO

She continued, “Over the last year and a half I have seen victims of Andrew Cuomo and those demanding accountability demeaned and smeared in the press and on social media.

“And now, with the release of texts and testimony from the AG report, we have seen black and white proof of both Azzopardi and Melissa DeRosa spending many hours of their days in office trying to smear Cuomo’s victims and retaliating against them instead of working hard to help New Yorkers and their families during a once in a lifetime pandemic.

“So while I am not surprised to hear that the Cuomo’s administration alongside his brother Chris Cuomo were doing the same with me, I am glad these details are coming to light.

“None of these people cared about our families. They only cared about themselves and abused their power to try and stifle our voices. We’ve only asked for answers as to why our families were put in danger and the reasoning behind the massive cover up of their deaths.”

Chris Cuomo was fired by CNN last week after information including texts from Chris to Andrew’s staffers released by New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed the anchor had been far more involved that he previously disclosed in work to defend the former governor against sexual harassment claims. It was discussed how to discredit some of Andrew’s accusers.

It then emerged that CNN had also been notified of a sexual misconduct claim against Chris by an unnamed woman who previously worked with him at ABC.

A rep for Chris Cuomo and CNN didn’t return multiple calls and emails from Page Six.

Rich Azzopardi, spokesman for Andrew Cuomo said, “I have no knowledge of this ever happening, and you must ask, why then did the attorney general not put anything about it in her report or ask any of the relevant people about it?”