Cuomo's Book Deal Was Really Rich

The world knew Andrew Cuomo received somewhere north of $4 million for his book on the coronavirus pandemic, but now it's clear just how far north. The Crown Publishing Group, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, is set to pay the New York governor more than $5.1 million for American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, which was published in October, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports. The figure was revealed in Cuomo's newly released tax returns and ethics documents, which show he received $3.12 million in 2020 and is due another $2.05 million to $2.15 million over the next two years. He's donated $500,000 of what he's received so far to the United Way of New York State for pandemic "recovery and vaccination efforts," Politico reports.

This despite the fact that Crown stopped promoting the book, and tabled plans for a paperback edition, after controversies started piling up around Cuomo, from his handling of COVID-19 nursing home deaths in his state to allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. One controversy even involves the book itself; the state attorney general is investigating whether he improperly recruited members of his government staff to help with it. The state Assembly’s Judiciary Committee is also looking into the book, as well as those other controversies, as it probes whether an impeachment should be attempted. The book, which ended up on the New York Times' best-seller list, has sold about 48,000 hard copies since it was released, though sales dropped off dramatically in 2021. (More Andrew Cuomo stories.)