Clashes at Cuomo CNN show

A female producer of Chris Cuomo’s show “Cuomo Prime Time” begged to leave after the pair clashed over “significant differences” — with multiple TV sources saying she found the hot-headed host’s behavior “threatening.”

Melanie Buck was executive producer of the CNN show starting in April 2018 but was suddenly replaced by Izzy Povich in March 2020 — shortly before Cuomo started melodramatically broadcasting from his Hamptons basement through weeks of COVID quarantine.

A CNN insider confirmed Buck went to network boss Jeff Zucker and asked to be taken off Cuomo’s show and moved to another department. The insider denied rumors that Buck was given a payoff to stay silent over her spat with the agitable anchor. More than one source told us of Buck, “She felt threatened.”

Buck exclusively told us in a statement via CNN: “I spent two years as EP on Chris’ show and I’m proud to have led it to No. 1 at CNN. We ultimately had significant differences, and I asked to leave the show. I have moved on and am looking forward to my latest role with CNN+.”

She was initially moved to election coverage, live events and special programming, but now works on the outlet’s new streaming service.

This comes after a boss of Cuomo’s at ABC, Shelley Ross, accused him in a New York Times op-ed on Friday of sexually harassing her 16 years ago when he grabbed her buttocks at a work party in front of her husband and coworkers. Cuomo denied that the interaction was “sexual in nature” and said that he had apologized to Ross.

Buck produced Cuomo’s show through the early days of the pandemic and left shortly before he announced he had COVID — only to flout the rules imposed by his governor brother by going out in East Hampton in early April 2020. The feisty anchor then ranted on a radio show about a “jackass loser fat-tire biker” neighbor and trashed his gig at CNN, saying he doesn’t want to spend his time “trafficking in things that I think are ridiculous.”