Charlie Rose is the latest public figure to be felled by sexual misconduct allegations, with PBS halting distribution of his nightly interview show and CBS News suspending him Monday following a Washington Post report with the accusations of eight women.
The women, who all worked for Rose or tried to work for him, accused the veteran newsman of groping them, walking naked in front of them and telling one that he dreamed about her swimming nude.
Rose, 75, said in a statement that he was โdeeply embarrassedโ and apologized for his behavior.
โPBS was shocked to learn today of these deeply disturbing allegations,โ the public broadcasting service said in a statement. โWe are immediately suspending distribution of โCharlie Rose.โโ
Three women went on the record in the Postโs deeply-reported story. Reah Bravo, a former associate producer for Roseโs PBS show who began working for him in 2007, told the newspaper: โHe was a sexual predator, and I was his victim.โ She said Rose groped her on multiple occasions and once, during a business trip to Indiana, called her to his hotel room where he emerged from a shower naked.
Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, one of Roseโs former assistants, was 21 when she said Rose repeatedly called her to describe his fantasies of her swimming naked at the pool at his Long Island home while he watched from his bedroom. She said she was fired when Rose learned she had spoken to a mutual friend about his behavior.
Megan Creydt, who worked as a coordinator on Roseโs PBS show in 2005 and 2006, told the newspaper that she was sitting in the passenger seat as Rose drove in Manhattan one day when he put his hand on her thigh. Five women interviewed by the Post described similar grabs to their legs in what many interpreted as an attempt to see their reactions.
Rose said that he has behaved insensitively at times โand 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.โ
Roseโs interview show is seen in 94 percent of the country on PBS stations. It is rebroadcast on Bloombergโs cable network, which also announced Monday it was suspending the show. He interviews a wide circle of people in the media, politics and entertainment.
He also hosts โCBS This Morningโ with Gayle King and Norah OโDonnell, a critically acclaimed morning news programs which has been gaining the past few years on its better-known rivals. Rose also conducts interviews for โ60 Minutes.โ
Despite his age and heart troubles in the past, Rose had been one of the busiest figures in television.
Two hours after the Post story went online, one of its authors, Amy Brittain, tweeted that โsadly, my inbox is already flooded with women who have had similar, disturbing encounters with Charlie Rose.โ
His behavior apparently was a poorly-kept secret in the industry. Two former employees interviewed by the Post said young women hired by the show were known as โCharlieโs Angels.โ
Interviewed last April outside a Time magazine gala, Rose was asked by The Associated Press about Fox Newsโ Bill OโReilly, who lost his job when it was revealed his network had paid millions of dollars to settle claims women had made against him.
โAll of the cases that raise the issue of sexual harassment, which is a terrible thing, (and) has probably been not exposed enough,โ Rose said. โNot enough in the sense of the attention in the past, so that people were afraid to come forward. I think people are coming forward now.โ