CBS News has suspended Charlie Rose, and PBS has suspended production and pulled The Charlie Rose Show off the air in response to a Washington Post report in which eight women accuse Rose of sexual harassment.
The Post article by Irin Carmon and Amy Brittain describes a pattern of behavior ranging from “the late 1990s to as recently as 2011,” citing “striking commonalities” in the accounts of eight women, three of whom are quoted by name. Some say he would put his hand on their leg or upper thigh as a way of testing their willingness for sexual contact, two that he walked in front of them naked after getting out of the shower at his home or on a business trip, one that he groped her buttocks at an office party.
Rose issued a statement in response to the report:
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.
However, the Post article says that Rose was far from remorseful at the time. Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, who was one of Rose’s assistants in the mid-2000s, says he walked naked in front of her at least a dozen times, and “repeatedly called the then-21-year-old late at night or early in the morning to describe his fantasies of her swimming naked in the Bellport pool as he watched from his bedroom.” When he learned she had told a friend about his actions, she says now, he fired her.
The article goes on to say that Rose’s behavior towards young women was so notorious and well-known that the women were known as “Charlie’s Angels,” and his habit of giving them shoulder massages became referred to as “the crusty paw.”
You may now commence vomiting.
