“I understand why that was a problem for CNN,” Chris Cuomo said on the Thursday night broadcast of his CNN program, Cuomo Prime Time. Chris Cuomo said he had been “looped into calls” with his brother’s advisors, friends and staff after his brother’s situation regarding sexual harassment allegations “became turbulent.”

Andrew Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment or misconduct by nine women. On Thursday afternoon, The Washington Post reported that Chris Cuomo had encouraged his brother not to resign from the governor’s office despite growing bipartisan calls to do so. CNN acknowledged Chris Cuomo’s involvement in the advisory meetings was “inappropriate.”

Chris Cuomo said that he regards himself as a family member foremost and acknowledged the difficulty of balancing that role against his profession as a journalist.

“It will not happen again,” Chris Cuomo added. “It was a mistake because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot…. I would never intend for that. And I’m sorry for that.”

Chris Cuomo’s apology is just his latest address of criticisms over his involvement with his brother and its conflict of interest with his role as a national journalist.

CNN had initially forbidden Chris Cuomo from covering his brother on the air. But CNN lifted the prohibition in the early days of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. New York initially became the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak. During that time, Chris Cuomo hosted his brother numerous times on his program to discuss the pandemic in New York.

During their conversations, the two would occasionally laugh and banter. Social media commenters accused Chris Cuomo of asking Andrew Cuomo “softball questions” about his handling of the pandemic. Unbeknownst at the time, a scandal was brewing about Andrew Cuomo’s administration’s under-reporting COVID-related nursing home deaths.

On February 18, CNN once again banned Chris Cuomo from covering his brother as a federal probe began investigating Andrew Cuomo’s reporting of nursing home deaths. Journalists and other critics viewed the interviews between the two as integral to building up the governor’s image as a pandemic hero, while thousands died under his watch.

“The early months of the pandemic crisis were an extraordinary time,” a CNN spokesperson said of their on-air interviews. “We felt that Chris speaking with his brother about the challenges of what millions of American families were struggling with was of significant human interest. As a result, we made an exception to a rule that we have had in place since 2013 which prevents Chris from interviewing and covering his brother, and that rule remains in place today.”

Then, as sexual harassment allegations mounted against Andrew Cuomo, on March 16, Chris Cuomo stated he was “obviously” aware of the allegations against his brother. Chris Cuomo said he wouldn’t be covering the topic on his show “because he is my brother.”

Newsweek contacted CNN for comment.