Talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose apologized and was suspended by three networks after eight women accused him of sexual harassment and unwanted advances in a report in The Washington Post on Monday.
The claims against Rose included groping female acquaintances and walking around naked in their presence, The Post reported.
The women were either employees at the “Charlie Rose” show or aspired to work for the show in allegations spanning from the late 1990s to 2011, according to The Post. Three were on the record and five were anonymous.
Rose released a statement apologizing for his behavior while maintaining that some of the allegations were inaccurate.
“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,” Rose said in a statement to The Post that he later posted on Twitter. “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,” the statement continued. “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.”
Rose has long hosted the eponymous show, which airs on PBS, and he is also a co-host of “CBS This Morning” and a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.”
By Monday evening, Representatives from CBS News said Rose was suspended while they looked into the matter, while representatives from PBS and Bloomberg LP said they were suspending distribution of his show.
“I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too,” Rose said in his statement. “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.”
Three of the women spoke to the Post on the record, while the other five spoke on condition of anonymity, the Post said, over fears of Rose’s stature in the media industry.
A woman who was one of Rose’s assistants during the mid-2000s, Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, told The Post that Rose allegedly walked naked in front of her at least a dozen times while she was working in one of his homes in New York City. She also said Rose called her repeatedly late at night or early in the morning to ask her about her sex life and describe a “very specific, repetitive fantasy” of her disrobing and swimming naked in a pool at his suburban home in Bellport, New York, as he watched. She was in her early 20s at the time.
“It feels branded into me, the details of it,” Godfrey-Ryan told the paper.
The Post said that in addition to the eight women, the newspaper spoke to about two dozen former employees of Rose on condition of anonymity and that six said they had seen what they considered to be harassment, eight said they were not comfortable with the host’s treatment of his female employees.
Another 10 said they had not witnessed or heard anything concerning about Rose, according to The Post.
The women ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged incidents, according to The Post.
Rose’s show is produced by independent television production company Charlie Rose Inc., airs on PBS and is filmed at Bloomberg headquarters. PBS, CBS and Bloomberg told The Post they had no record of sexual harassment complaints against Rose.
Two women who spoke to The Post said they had complained to Rose’s executive producer, Yvette Vega, about the alleged inappropriate behavior.
Vega said in a statement to The Post that she should have stood up for the women.
“I should have stood up for them,” said Vega, 52, who has worked with Rose since the show was created in 1991. “I failed. It is crushing. I deeply regret not helping them.”
PBS was “shocked to learn today of these deeply disturbing allegations,” a spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News.
“We are immediately suspending distribution of ‘Charlie Rose,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson noted that “PBS does not fund this nightly program or supervise its production, but we expect our producers to provide a workplace where people feel safe and are treated with dignity and respect.”
CBS News said in a statement that “Charlie Rose is suspended immediately while we look into this matter. These allegations are extremely disturbing and we take them very seriously.”
Bloomberg LP said in a statement to NBC News: “We are deeply disturbed to learn of these allegations and are immediately suspending the show from airing on Bloomberg TV and radio.”