CBS News, PBS fire Charlie Rose following allegations
CBS News and PBS fired morning show host Charlie Rose on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after several women who worked with him on his PBS interview show alleged a pattern of sexual misconduct, including groping and walking naked in front of them.
CBS News president David Rhodes said there is nothing more important than assuring a safe, professional workplace.
To date, there have been no accusations of bad behaviour by Rose from people who work at CBS News. He’d been a co-host of “CBS This Morning’’ since 2012 and a contributor to “60 Minutes.’’
The allegations, first outlined in The Washington Post, are from people who worked with him or prospective employees at his nightly PBS show.
“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.’’
He noted that CBS News has reported on sexual misconduct revelations at other media companies for the past two years.
“Our credibility in that reporting requires credibility managing basic standards of behaviour,’’ he wrote. “That is why we have taken these actions.’’
There’s been a flood of misconduct stories involving prominent men since The New York Times reported on Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein this fall. Predating that are harassment accusations that cost former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and the network’s top personality, Bill O’Reilly, their jobs.
Several women have 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-yearold 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 had no immediate reaction to his firing. In a statement late Monday, he apologized for his actions and said he was “deeply embarrassed.’’
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.