U.S. TV networks fire Charlie Rose after sex harassment allegations

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U.S. TV networks fire Charlie Rose after sex harassment allegations

 

FILE PHOTO: Journalist Charlie Rose speaks after winning a Peabody Award for his work in "One on One with Assad" in New York, U.S. on May 19, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - CBS News and other networks said on Tuesday they had fired Charlie Rose, one of the most prominent American interviewers, the day after the Washington Post reported the television host had sexually harassed eight women.

 

PBS and Bloomberg, which broadcast the "Charlie Rose" show, also said they were terminating their relationships with Rose and cancelling distribution of his programs.

 

Rose was a co-host on the morning show "CBS This Morning" and a correspondent for its long-running Sunday night news magazine "60 Minutes."

 

"A short time ago we terminated Charlie Rose's employment with CBS News, effective immediately," CBS News President David Rhodes said in an internal message that was shared with media. "This followed the revelation yesterday of extremely disturbing and intolerable behaviour said to have revolved around his PBS programme.

 

A spokesman for Rose said the TV host would not comment further, pointing to Rose's Monday statement in which he apologised for his "inappropriate behaviour." Rose, 75, however, also questioned the accuracy of the allegations in the Washington Post.

 

"I deeply apologise for my inappropriate behaviour," Rose said Monday. "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, saying he had "come to a profound new respect for women and their lives."

 

Eight women accused Rose of making unwanted sexual advances towards them, the Washington Post reported on Monday, the latest in a wave of sexual harassment allegations against prominent men in the entertainment and media industries and American politics.

 

The women, who were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the "Charlie Rose" show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011, told the newspaper he made unwanted sexual advances towards them, walked in the nude around them and groped their breasts, buttocks and genital areas.

 

Three new accusers, women who work at CBS News, came forward on Tuesday, the network reported.

 

Reuters could not independently verify the accounts of the women.

 

CBS's Rhodes said Tuesday that he was "deeply disappointed and angry that people were victimized."

 

After the report on Monday, PBS and Bloomberg suspended Rose's signature interview show, distributed on both outlets, citing the allegations.

 

"In light of yesterday’s revelations, PBS has terminated its relationship with Charlie Rose and cancelled distribution of his programs," PBS said in a statement on Tuesday. "PBS expects all the producers we work with to provide a workplace where people feel safe."

 

Bloomberg said on Tuesday it also terminated its rebroadcast agreement for the TV show.

 

Rose's co-hosts on "CBS This Morning", Norah O'Donnell and Gayle King, on Tuesday voiced their dismay at the allegations.

 

"Let me be very clear: there is no excuse for this alleged behaviour," Norah O'Donnell said.

 

Gayle King said she was shaken by the report. "I really am still reeling," she said. "What do you say when someone that you deeply care about has done something that is so horrible?" She added that Rose "doesn't get a pass."

 

The women said neither had spoken with Rose since the allegations were published.

 

Rose routinely landed the biggest names in international politics, entertainment and letters for his interview show "Charlie Rose."

 

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 all-black background.

 

His persona on "CBS This Morning" was a little more whimsical, given the lighter subject matter of morning news shows in the United States.

 

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Writing by Ben Klayman; Editing by Clive McKeef)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-22

[Just1Voice]

This is unfortunate.  I always like his show. 

 

[steven100]

you'll see more and more of '  lack of trust ' in women employed in the future .... anyone working near one will not want to talk to them in fear of retribution.  We are really turning into a crazy world of softies...

[Briggsy]

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

you'll see more and more of '  lack of trust ' in women employed in the future ....

anyone working near one will not want to talk to them in fear of retribution. 

We are really turning into a crazy world of softies...

What you are witnessing is a power shift or at least a contest for power within Western society. In this case the power is shifting along gender lines from men to women. The battlefield is primarily the workplace. Sexual advances or entitlement is one of the basic expressions of power on more than one level. This is primal. Who knows if the greater protections and freedoms women now enjoy compared to 40 years ago will expand further or fall away.

 

Note the levers being used to gain the power here. It is social sanction. In this case, Charlie Rose has been forced to apologise  and may well have his career (almost over) damaged. The levers worked.

[ballpoint]

Much as dash-cams have pretty much become the norm for evidence of driving wrong doing, I can see the day when we will all need to carry personal video and audio recording devices to do the same in our daily lives.  Particularly for encounters with the opposite sex.  This will allow anyone attempting to abuse their power to be accused and charged the first time they try it, thus preventing further attempts on others, and will also prevent fraudulent accusations being made against them.  Some may find it all "Big Sister is watching you", but sadly, the way the world is going, giving up some personal freedoms in order to preserve your own freedom, or at least reputation and career, seems to be the only way to go.

[tonray]

Ultimately this will likely lead to more discrimination against women in the workplace as males in control build firewalls against harassment claims by excluding women from opportunities. At least in the short term, we should prepare for many more lawsuits on employment sex discrimination.

 

Oh brother....we have some big issues in America and it just seems to be getting worse.

[zydeco]

[55Jay]

^Well, Charlie has interviewed a lot of people in his time.  Might even be able to find a photo of Bill Clinton on the show. 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Quote

Eight women accused Rose of making unwanted sexual advances towards them, the Washington Post reported on Monday, the latest in a wave of sexual harassment allegations against prominent men in the entertainment and media industries and American politics.

 

Wow!  It's like the dam has burst, and now all these kinds of cases are coming flooding out of the Hollywood/entertainment/media industries... For anyone who's not been following, it's an increasingly long list of various prominents, dating back to the Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, Roger Ailes antics...  And kudos to the Washington Post and New York Times for doing much of the reporting that surfaced many of these allegations.

 

Political views aside, it's a good object lesson on the kinds of things that will happen when people get too much power for their own good and feel they can start treating their "lessers" however they like.  It would be a good lesson for Thailand to learn from, as well.

 

[pegman]

No big loss. He acted very sophisticated but his questions were really mundane. At 75 he is well past his prime for this type of work. 

[SheungWan]

6 hours ago, steven100 said:

you'll see more and more of '  lack of trust ' in women employed in the future .... anyone working near one will not want to talk to them in fear of retribution.  We are really turning into a crazy world of softies...

Nonsense. This was not a case of a guy being hit by a series of failed passes come back to bite him. This was a series of systematic and planned harassment of staff. Some guys just don't want to know the difference. Charlie does. That's why he immediately folded.

[phantomfiddler]

Just a thought ...... Could asking a lady out for a date possibly fall into the category of an "unwanted sexual advance" if the lady did not want to go on said date ?

[Jingthing]

I admired his work.

This seems to just be the beginning. 

Who's next?
Hopefully trump. 

[Mac98]

40 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Just a thought ...... Could asking a lady out for a date possibly fall into the category of an "unwanted sexual advance" if the lady did not want to go on said date ?

Unassailable evidence of your guilt. There goes your career, house, savings. You do get to enjoy a lifetime on the sex predator list.

[SheungWan]

1 hour ago, SheungWan said:

Nonsense. This was not a case of a guy being hit by a series of failed passes come back to bite him. This was a series of systematic and planned harassment of staff. Some guys just don't want to know the difference. Charlie does. That's why he immediately folded.

 

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

Just a thought ...... Could asking a lady out for a date possibly fall into the category of an "unwanted sexual advance" if the lady did not want to go on said date ?

And right on time a silly bus turns up with a bogus comment.

[Krataiboy]

7 hours ago, Briggsy said:

What you are witnessing is a power shift or at least a contest for power within Western society. In this case the power is shifting along gender lines from men to women. The battlefield is primarily the workplace. Sexual advances or entitlement is one of the basic expressions of power on more than one level. This is primal. Who knows if the greater protections and freedoms women now enjoy compared to 40 years ago will expand further or fall away.

 

Note the levers being used to gain the power here. It is social sanction. In this case, Charlie Rose has been forced to apologise  and may well have his career (almost over) damaged. The levers worked.

The power pendulum has been swinging women's way for decades and has reached the point where men have all but forfeited their traditional roles as providers and protectors for the species.

 

Could this, one wonders, have anything to do with the increasing number of males of all ages seeking to join the transgender trend by morphing from men into women?

 

If you can't beat 'em. . . 

[Thaidream]

While employed as a manager in America I once had to take a course involving sexual harassment training.  Asking a woman out on a date is not sexual harassment but if she declines asking her out a second time could be construed as possible sexual harassment.  In fact, if one is interviewing a woman for a job- staring at her legs; the way she walks and looking at her cleavage could also be considered sexual harassment under the law.

 

The way  things are developing- the workplace is going to become so boring and controlled that it will be a job without any creativity. Men will become afraid to speak with women in case a woman takes it the wrong way.  

[Jingthing]

Just now, Thaidream said:

While employed as a manager in America I once had to take a course involving sexual harassment training.  Asking a woman out on a date is not sexual harassment but if she declines asking her out a second time could be construed as possible sexual harassment.  In fact, if one is interviewing a woman for a job- staring at her legs; the way she walks and looking at her cleavage could also be considered sexual harassment under the law.

 

The way  things are developing- the workplace is going to become so boring and controlled that it will be a job without any creativity. Men will become afraid to speak with women in case a woman takes it the wrong way.  

You've got a point. You're not even supposed to say someone looks nice today or has a nice outfit on. It's going to be a real challenge to make progress on this real issue without an awful lot of hysterical OVERKILL. 

[IAMHERE]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I admired his work.

This seems to just be the beginning. 

Who's next?

David Cassidy ?

[Jingthing]

25 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

David Cassidy ?

R.I.P.