I liked and respected this man. ...Not anymore.
Charlie Rose is the latest famous and talented man revealed to have been (or at least accused to have been) a major creep to women in the growing, continuing scandal of many famous and talented men who have been outed by a large number of women (and yes, one is a large number in this case) accusing him of inappropriately touching or talking to them.
At the time of this scandal, the veteran news icon was the host, managing editor and executive producer of his eponymous talk show on PBS and Bloomberg, and was co-anchor of CBS This Morning and a contributing correspondent of 60 Minutes on CBS. Soon after the fact, both networks suspended Rose from the programs, with the former halting distribution of the talk show indefinitely (PBS does not own or produce the show, only distributing, as it is fully owned by Rose himself). After a few hours, both networks officially straight up fired him immediately.
Before this incident came about, I was considered a huge fan of Charlie Rose. His talk show was something of a mainstay on television for me, and I watched CBS This Morning nearly every day, and one of my reasons to watch was him; when he was announced as co-anchor, I was super excited to watch, along with Gayle King, Erica Hill (the other third co-host) and Norah O'Donnell. The program wanted to give us the hard news of the previous day (and in case of Breaking News, the current day), and with its hosts and producers and crew at the helm, it did just that and more. So you can understand how I felt when I learned about this news; when I learned about it, I was shocked, hurt and ashamed (not for him, but for the women he ruined for a moment of his own sexual gratification). I felt so sorry for the women who wanted to work for this news icon--but later after being hired, saw this man for what he is behind closed doors.
In this report by the Washington Post , eight women took part to reveal that Rose sexually assaulted or harassed them at some point in their careers as interns or assistants to him.
I feel so sorry and heartbroken for all and every single one of these women, as sorry as I am to Rose's co-hosts Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell . When I watched their response to this, you don't need a second to hear shock, anger, frustration, heartbreak and grief in their voices after learning that a sexual predator in hiding inside a broadcast journalism icon and their co-worker and their friend.
Watching this clip hit me in the heart, as watching my favorite morning news team broke apart thanks to one-third going into his worst behavior ever, and the other two suffering from it from afar. But I will say I praise them for being so open, candid and honest with their words and taking the situation head-on instead of mentioning it briefly or not speaking about it at all. A beautiful moment for everyone involved that didn't need to happen but they took it very well.
I don't think I'll follow this man forevermore, or follow his career for a long time. Cause this hurts me. Not as much as the women he caused suffering and pain, but as a fan, a little bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment