TV host off air after sex harassment claims
UNITED STATES: CBS and other networks yesterday suspended Charlie Rose, one of the most prominent American interviewers, after eight women told the Washington Post he sexually harassed them and prompted Rose to apologise for his ‘‘inappropriate behaviour’’.
PBS and Bloomberg said they were suspending Rose’s signature interview show, distributed on both outlets, citing the allegations in the newspaper story.
‘‘These allegations are extremely disturbing and we take them very seriously,’’ CBS News said in a statement. Rose is a co-host on the morning show CBS This Morning and a correspondent for its long-running Sunday night news magazine 60 Minutes.
Rose, 75, questioned the accuracy of the allegations in the Washington Post.
‘‘I deeply apologise for my inappropriate behaviour,’’ he said in a statement. ‘‘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 realise I was mistaken,’’ he added.
Eight women, who worked at Charlie Rose Inc or aspired to a job there, have accused Rose of making unwanted sexual advances toward them, the Washington Post reported yesterday, the latest in a wave of sexual harassment allegations against prominent men in the entertainment and media industries and American politics.
‘‘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,’’ Rose said.
Rose routinely landed the biggest names in international politics, entertainment and letters for his interview show Charlie Rose, which was broadcast on PBS and Bloomberg TV.
An acute listener, Rose employed an engaging yet serious style in contrast to the bitter partisan arguments, cross-talk and raised voices on cable television. True to the show’s sober tone, the set was simply a table and chairs with an allblack background.
His persona on CBS This Morning was a little more whimsical, given the lighter subject matter of morning news shows in the US.
The eight women told the newspaper he made unwanted sexual advances toward them, walked in the nude around them and groped their breasts, buttocks and genital areas.
PBS, in announcing its suspension, said it does not fund the Charlie Rose show or supervise its production, but expects its producers to provide a safe work place.
Bloomberg said it was ‘‘deeply disturbed’’ by the allegations.