CBS News has suspended Charlie Rose, and PBS and Bloomberg TV have stopped airing “The Charlie Rose Show,” after eight women accused the famous TV broadcaster of sexual harassment, including groping them, making lewd phone calls and walking around naked or in an untethered bathrobe.
One former intern for Charlie Rose named Reah Bravo told The Washington Post that Rose repeatedly walked around naked in front of her and repeatedly groped her, including one time when he “grabbed me by my hair, holding a fist of it at the base of my scalp.” Another time, she says, they were traveling on a small private plane when he got out of his seat and lay on top of her, pressing his body into hers. Other women accused Rose of forcefully touching or trying to touch them without their consent. One woman describes being in the midst of a job hiring process with Rose, having already been told salary and job title, when he took her out to his Bellport, Long Island, estate. After sitting by the pool late at night with her, he returned naked in an open bathrobe and proceeded to force his hands down her pants.
According to the Post, a number of people at “The Charlie Rose Show” knew about Rose’s alleged sexual harassment, including the longtime producer Yvette Vega. The Post spoke to over 20 people for the article, and at least a dozen more women have come forward to the Post since the article was published yesterday. In response to the investigation, Charlie Rose said, “I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior.” This is Gayle King, co-anchor of ”CBS This Morning.”
Gayle King: “I’m really struggling, because how do you—what do you say when someone that you deeply care about has done something that is so horrible? How do you wrap your brain around that? 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. We are all deeply affected.”
The shocking Washington Post investigation is the latest of a series of sexual harassment revelations to upend the media, journalism and political worlds in the wake of the fall of Harvey Weinstein, who is now being criminally investigated, after dozens of women came forward to accuse him of rape, assault and sexual harassment.