CBS, PBS & Bloomberg Suspend Charlie Rose In Wake of Sexual Harassment Allegations
UPDATED with statements, more information throughout: CBS and PBS have suspended Charlie Rose amid sexual harassment allegations against him, while Bloomberg L.P., in whose Manhattan headquarters Rose’s program is recorded and which telecasts reruns of his program, said it would stop showing them. In a statement provided to Deadline, CBS News said, “Charlie Rose is suspended immediately while we look into this matter. These allegations are extremely disturbing and we take them very seriously.”
The pubcaster said this today in a statement: “PBS was shocked to learn today of these deeply disturbing allegations. We are immediately suspending distribution of Charlie Rose. Charlie Rose is produced by Charlie Rose, Inc., an independent television production company. PBS does not fund this nightly program or supervise its production, but we expect our producers to provide a workplace where people feel safe and are treated with dignity and respect.”
Joining the Big 4 net and PBS, Bloomberg also put Rose and his interview show on ice after the claims. “We are deeply disturbed to learn of these allegations and are immediately suspending the show from airing on Bloomberg TV and Radio,” the outlet said.
PREVIOUS, 2:17 PM: CBS This Morning co-anchor Charlie Rose today became the latest high-profile media personality to be accused of sexual harassment, according to a report in the Washington Post. Rose also offered an apology for his behavior. The Post reported:
“Eight women have told The Washington Post that longtime television host Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas.
“The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the Charlie Rose show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS, also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.”
“There are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women, each of whom described their interactions with Rose in multiple interviews with The Post. For all of the women, reporters interviewed friends, colleagues or family members who said the women had confided in them about aspects of the incidents. Three of the eight spoke on the record.”
In response, according to the Post, Rose said:
“In my 45 years in journalism, I have prided myself on being an advocate for the careers of the women with whom I have worked. Nevertheless, in the past few days, claims have been made about my behavior toward some former female colleagues.
“It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior. I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate. I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken.
“I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too. All of us, including me, are coming to a newer and deeper recognition of the pain caused by conduct in the past, and have come to a profound new respect for women and their lives.”
Earlier today, The New York Times announced it was suspending Glenn Thrush, a top reporter in its Washington bureau, in the wake of a allegations of sexual harassment in a report on Vox media. The paper also said that Thrush would be entering a facility to treat substance abuse.
The lengthy and detailed Washington Post story about Rose is the latest in a wave of accusations of sexual harassment leveled against well-known figures in media and entertainment that began with the departure of Fox News chief Roger Ailes and that network’s star, Bill O’Reilly, and continued with the Times‘ exposé of producer Harvey Weinstein. The reports, many of them with on-the-record testimony, have emboldened more victims to come forward. The Post quotes Reah Bravo, an intern and then associate producer for Rose’s PBS show beginning in 2007. Bravo described “unwanted sexual advances while working for Rose at his private waterfront estate in Bellport, N.Y., and while traveling with him in cars, in a hotel suite and on a private plane.
“It has taken 10 years and a fierce moment of cultural reckoning for me to understand these moments for what they were,” she told the Post. “He was a sexual predator, and I was his victim.”
One element of the story that was common to many of the recent reports was that “rumors about Rose’s behavior have circulated for years,” the Post reported. “One of the authors of this report, Outlook contributing writer Irin Carmon, first heard and attempted to report on the allegations involving two of the women while she was a journalist at Jezebel in 2010 but was unable to confirm them. In the past several weeks in the wake of accusations against Harvey Weinstein, Carmon and Post investigative reporter Amy Brittain jointly began contacting dozens of men and women who had worked on the Charlie Rose show or interviewed for jobs there.”
Rose, 75, was hired by CBS in 2011 in a revamping of its morning news program. Since then, he has also contributed stories to 60 Minutes, while continuing the popular interview program he launched in 1991 on the Public Broadcasting Service and which has become an envied perch for world leaders, entertainers and artists. In 2015, he was given the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from Arizona State University.
Last February, he underwent surgery to replace a valve in his heart. In addition to his work as a journalist, Rose, divorced since 1980, is a familiar figure around town, often with a socialite on his arm and a coterie of Manhattan’s movers and shakers.
Deadline’s Dominic Patten contributed to this report.
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