Charlie Rose fired by CBS, PBS amid sexual harassment allegations
One day after a bombshell Washington Post report alleging sexual harassment against Charlie Rose, the veteran journalist has been fired from two networks.
CBS News says the network terminated Rose's contract Tuesday.
On Monday, Rose was suspended from CBS, and PBS and Bloomberg, who air his "Charlie Rose" talk show announced they were pulling the show from their scheduled. PBS later announced that they too would part ways with the legendary journalist.
"PBS has terminated its relationship with Charlie Rose and cancelled distribution of his programs," the network said, just hours after CBS announced it would severe ties with the journalist.
To date, there have been no accusations of bad behavior by Rose from people who work at CBS News. He’s been a co-host of “CBS This Morning” since 2012 and a contributor to “60 Minutes.”
The network’s news president, David Rhodes, said there is nothing more important than assuring a safe, professional workplace.
“I’ve often heard that things used to be different,” Rhodes said in a memo to CBS News staff. “And no one may be able to correct the past. But what may once have been accepted should not ever have been acceptable.”
Rose’s two co-hosts on “CBS This Morning,” Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, were sharply critical of their colleague on the air Tuesday. The story of Rose’s behavior led his former broadcast.
“This is a moment that demands a frank and honest assessment about where we stand and more generally the safety of women,” O’Donnell said. “Let me be very clear. There is no excuse for this alleged behavior.”
King said she considered Rose a friend and held him in high regard, but was struggling because “what do you say when someone that you deeply care about has done something so horrible?
“How do you wrap your brain around that?” she said. “I’m really grappling with that. That said, Charlie does not get a pass here. He doesn’t get a pass from anyone in this room.”
She said that while the story described a Rose she did not know, “I’m also clearly on the side of the women who have been very hurt and damaged by this.”
Eight women came forward in the Post report claiming Rose sexually harassed them.
Several women accused Rose of touching them on the breasts, buttocks or thigh, emerging naked from a shower when they were working at his residence and, in one case, calling a 21-year-old staffer to tell his fantasies of seeing her swim in the nude. A former associate producer for Rose's PBS show, Reah Bravo, told the Washington Post: "He was a sexual predator, and I was his victim."
Rose, 75, apologized for his behavior in a statement issued Monday and said he was embarrassed by it. He joins a rapidly growing list of public figures felled by misconduct allegations since the floodgates were opened by The New York Times' investigation of harassment and assault by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.