Longtime interviewer and journalist, Charlie Rose, has been suspended from his duties at 60 Minutes on CBS, and from his talk show on the Public Broadcasting Station, following allegations that surfaced of the journalist having engaged in sexual misconduct with eight women.
The news originally broke on The Washington Post, when eight women explained to the outlet that the 60 Minutes correspondent sexually harassed them or engaged in misconduct within their presence, ranging from groping women, making lewd calls, and unwanted sexual advances, to indecent exposure and walking around in the nude.
Rose, surprisingly, did not deny the allegations but instead apologized for them. He sent a statement to the Washington Post, where he rued the demise of his career’s integrity while offering words of comfort to his alleged victims…
“In my 45 years in journalism, I have prided myself on being an advocate for the careers of the women with whom I have worked. Nevertheless, in the past few days, claims have been made about my behavior toward some former female colleagues.
“It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior. 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 realize I was mistaken.
“I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too. 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.”
PBS and CBS both immediately responded by suspending the correspondent.
The Hill is reporting that PBS issued the following statement…
“PBS was shocked to learn today of these deeply disturbing allegations. We are immediately suspending distribution of ‘Charlie Rose,”
CBS was a lot more curt, simply issuing a single-sentence statement that let everyone know they would be investigating the matter and that Rose was suspended in the meantime…
“Charlie Rose is suspended immediately while we look into this matter,”
Surprisingly, Rose has managed to stay out of the limelight as a major vocal advocate of male feminism or an anti-#GamerGate journalist.
Nevertheless, this #MeToo sweep is showing that no one is safe across the political spectrum, and that even those that many considered to be “fair” or “unbiased” are still subject to the court of public opinion after damaging allegations have been made. At this point it doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon, but perhaps a thorough clean-up and reformation of the media is in order once the dust finally settles. And according to journalist Amy Brittain from the Washington Post, the dust is far from settled.
Sadly, my inbox is already flooded with women who have had similar, disturbing encounters with Charlie Rose. My email is [email protected] Please reach out if you have any information to share. Our reporting continues. @irin https://t.co/i8fgF8wabB
— Amy Brittain (@AmyJBrittain) November 20, 2017
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