Amid still-mounting sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the floodgates now seem to know no bounds regarding the behavior of men in power throughout many industries. Now, eight women have come forward to the Washington Post to make disturbing and graphic allegations against longtime CBS host Charlie Rose, who’s known for his highbrow on-air style, yet the women’s accusations paint a very different portrait of the host. And in a late-breaking update, Bloomberg reports that CBS has suspended Rose, and PBS has paused distribution of his interview show.
Most of the women who spoke with the Post detailed alarmingly similar accusations of “unwanted sexual advances” from Rose while they either worked for or sought employment with his show. They claim that he regularly spoke to them in inappropriate ways that included lewd phone calls. Further, they say that he groped them and even walked around in the nude before them while jumping between “fury and flattery” as he tested their reactions in hotel rooms, planes, and cars. The Post has complied an enormous, in-depth report, but one anonymous woman has made some particularly unsettling allegations about how Rose sexually assaulted her during an interview at his home. Rose reportedly flashed her and grew angry:
At the pool, Rose dangled his legs in the water and then said that he needed to change because his pant legs were wet. He returned wearing a white bathrobe, which was open; he wore nothing underneath.
“I thought, I’m doomed,” she said. “I was completely panicked. In retrospect, I thought of a million things I could have done.”
She said she was not intoxicated — Rose had drunk his wine and then hers at the restaurant — but said he appeared to be. It was nearly 2 a.m. and she was exhausted, she said. She also said she felt alone and powerless. It was the middle of the night, they were on his secluded property, and she did not know how to drive.
“I started talking in this feeble and compulsive way,” she said. “I started talking about power, how the abuse of power can be. He completely lost it. ‘What are you talking about? That’s certainly not the case.'”
She said he then tried to put a hand down her pants.
That’s only one of several accounts detailed by The Post, and in response to all of the allegations, Rose issued a statement. He claims to be “embarrassed” by how he “behaved insensitively” in certain circumstances:
“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.”
Rose further claimed that he has learned from this experience and now has a “profound new respect” for women. However, he makes it quite clear (above) that he disputes some of the allegations against him. You can read the full Washington Post report here.
(Via Washington Post & Bloomberg)