Rose suspended over sexual abuse claims

8 women accuse him of harassment

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, file photo, Charlie Rose participates in the "CBS This Morning" panel at the CBS 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif. The Washington Post says eight women have accused television host Charlie Rose of multiple unwanted sexual advances and inappropriate behavior. CBS News suspended Charlie Rose and PBS is to halt production and distribution of a show following the sexual harassment report. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Charlie Rose, one of America’s most respected broadcasters, an award-winning television host and interviewer, was suspended on Monday after eight women accused him of years of sexual harassment and unwanted advances.

A bombshell Washington Post report said the women were employees or aspired to work on the ‘Charlie Rose’ show and were in their 20s and 30s when the alleged harassment took place from the 1990s to as recently as 2011.

On the record

They complained that the unwanted advances included lewd phone calls, groping and walking naked in front of them. Three of them spoke on the record.

The report makes Mr. Rose, now 75, the latest senior male journalist accused of misconduct in the wake of the downfall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, which opened the floodgates of sexual assault and harassment accusations in many industries.

Almost immediately, public broadcaster PBS moved to suspend distribution of the ‘Charlie Rose’ show. CBS, where Rose co-hosts ‘CBS This Morning’ and is a contributing correspondent for ‘60 Minutes’, followed suit.

“Charlie Rose is suspended immediately while we look into this matter. These allegations are extremely disturbing and we take them very seriously,” a CBS News statement read.

A spokesperson said PBS was shocked by the “deeply disturbing allegations.”

‘Charlie Rose’ is produced by an independent television production company.