Update 2 (6:39pm EST): Following his suspension from both CBS and PBS, Charlie Rose has just issued the following statement admitting that he has "behaved insensitively at times" which has left him "greatly embarrassed." Here is Rose's full statement:
In my 45 years of 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's 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.
My statement in full. pic.twitter.com/3kvFrqF2dT
— Charlie Rose (@charlierose) November 20, 2017
* * *
Update 1: As we expected, PBS and CBS News have reportedly suspended Charlie Rose following the allegations that he sexually harassed eight women in the workplace...
PBS, which airs Rose’s self-titled interview program, said Monday they were suspending the production of the show and will halt scheduled airings.
CBS News also announced Rose would be suspended from their network after news of the allegations broke. Rose is a co-host the network’s morning show, “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent to its newsmagazine “60 Minutes.”
Seeing as Rose's days as a preeminent TV news reporter may be coming to an end, this video has been making the rounds on Twitter, in which Rose can be seen groping his"CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell...
FLASHBACK @CBSThisMorning from 04/21/16 -> @CharlieRose offers to spank @NorahODonnell after watching a viral video on a spanking lemur #TTT pic.twitter.com/i1oP1HS9eo
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 20, 2017
* * *
It seems like not a day goes by without new allegations of sexual abuse or harassment being levied against a major figure in media or entertainment – and Monday was no exception.
Earlier in the day, the New York Times announced it would suspend White House reporter Glenn Thrush following reports that he harassed and propositioned young female reporters working with him at Politico and the Times.
And just minutes ago, the Washington Post reported that eight women have come forward to accuse legendary Emmy-winning broadcast journalist Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, and groping their breasts, butts or generals.
The women were either employees or aspired to work for Rose at “the Charlie Rose Show”. The alleged harassment spans from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. The women ranged in age between 21 to 37 at the time the harassment took place. Rose, 75, has a show that airs on PBS. He also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent at “60 Minutes”.
His PBS show also airs on Bloomberg TV.
According to WaPo, there are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women. 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. Five of the alleged victims spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of Rose’s stature in the industry, his power over their careers and his notoriously volatile temper.Rose supplied a rambling statement to the Post where he acknowledged that some of his behavior may have been untoward…
“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,” Rose said in a statement provided to The Post. “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.”
Most of the women said Rose alternated between fury and flattery in his interactions with them. Five described Rose putting his hand on their legs, sometimes their upper thigh, in what they said seemed like a test to gauge their reactions. Two said that while they were working for Rose at his residences or were traveling with him on business, he emerged from the shower and walked naked in front of them. One said he groped her buttocks at a staff party.
One woman, Reah Bravo was an intern and then associate producer for Rose’s PBS show beginning in 2007. In interviews, she described unwanted sexual advances while working for Rose at his private waterfront estate in Bellport New York, 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.”
Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, one of Rose’s assistants in the mid-2000s, recalled at least a dozen instances where Rose walked nude in front of her while she worked in one of his New York City homes. He also repeatedly called the then-21-year-old late at night or early in the morning to describe his fantasies of her swimming naked in the Bellport pool as he watched from his bedroom, she said.
“It feels branded into me, the details of it,” Godfrey-Ryan said.
The women also described how Rose’s staff brushed off their complaints about his behavior as “just Charlie being Charlie”…
She said she told Yvette Vega, Rose’s longtime executive producer, about the calls.
“I explained how he inappropriately spoke to me during those times,” Godfrey-Ryan said. “She would just shrug and just say, ‘That’s just Charlie being Charlie.’ ”
In a statement to The Post, Vega said she should have done more to protect the young women on the show.
“I should have stood up for them,” said Vega, 52, who has worked with Rose since the show was created in 1991. “I failed. It is crushing. I deeply regret not helping them.”
One woman said Rose fired her after learning that she had confided in a friend about his behavior.
In its lengthy story about the accusations, WaPo delves into minute detail about all of the accusers’ experiences. We now wait to see if PBS will suspend or fire Rose, or if the TV host will voluntarily take a leave of absence to seek “treatment” as so many of his peers have done.