New York AG releases audio of Gov. Cuomo singing 'Do You Love Me' to advisor Charlotte Bennett as part of damning sexual harassment report
- Cuomo sang the Contours' song "Do You Love Me" during a phone call with advisor Charlotte Bennett.
- The conversation was posted as part of a investigation into allegations of sexual harassment in the governor's office.
- The report found that the Cuomo administration fostered "a hostile work environment" for women.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sang the Contours' song "Do You Love Me" to then-executive assistant and health policy advisor Charlotte Bennett during a phone conversation that was released by state Attorney General Letitia James as part of an investigation that found that the governor sexually harassed multiple current and former state government employees.
During the conversation, Cuomo starting humming the beat to the song singing "Are You Ready," asking Bennett if she knew the song, which he then said was "before your time."
Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, then began to sing: "Do you love me, Do really you love me, Do you love me, Do you care?"
She replied: "I'll have to listen now."
The report, which was compiled over nearly five months and conducted by two outside attorneys, found that the Cuomo administration fostered "a hostile work environment" for women and was "rife with fear and intimidation."
"We find that the Governor sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees by, among other things, engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women," the investigators wrote in their 165-page report.
James, a fellow Democrat, said that the governor's conduct "corrodes the very fabric and character of our state government and shines light on injustice that can be present at the highest levels of government."
However, the attorney general stated that the report has no "criminal consequences" and that it is "ultimately up to the governor" on whether he chooses to resign from office, which he has previously rejected as an option.