CBS Cans Charlie Rose After Numerous Sexual Harassment Allegations

Veteran CBS/PBS journalist Charlie Rose is out of a job:

“A short time ago we terminated Charlie Rose’s employment with CBS News, effective immediately,” CBS News President David Rhodes wrote in a note to staff. “This followed the revelation yesterday of extremely disturbing and intolerable behavior said to have revolved around his PBS program. Despite Charlie’s important journalistic contribution to our news division, there is absolutely nothing more important, in this or any organization, than ensuring a safe, professional workplace — a supportive environment where people feel they can do their best work. We need to be such a place.”

Rose’s departure marks the downfall of one of television’s most venerable journalists and a major blow to CBS News, which enjoyed its greatest success ever in the morning thanks to “CBS This Morning,” which was built around Rose and his co-anchors, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, in 2012.

Rose’s response, in which he appeared to admit guilt to some of the allegations, only added fuel to the “Me, Too” fire – especially regarding his claim that he thought some of the alleged incidents involved “shared feelings”:

https://twitter.com/charlierose/status/932747035069034496

PBS also took swift action and suspended Rose after the allegations first surfaced in Monday’s Washington Post:

A PBS spokesperson told the PBS NewsHour that “PBS was shocked to learn” about “these deeply disturbing allegations,” and that it would immediately suspend distribution of Rose’s show.

“’Charlie Rose’ is produced by Charlie Rose, Inc., an independent television production company. 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,” the spokesperson said.

Rose, whose career as a journalist started in the early 70s at the BBC, New York’s WPIX-TV, and then PBS, is a North Carolina native and a graduate of Duke University.

UPDATE: Just after this post was published, Fox News reported that PBS has also fired Rose.

(Originally published at American Lens)