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Charlie Rose Apologizes After Eight Women Accuse Host of ‘Unwanted Sexual Advances’: ‘I Am Greatly Embarrassed’

Charlie Rose speaks onstage during the ‘CBS This Morning‘ panel discussion at the 2015 Winter TCA Tour in Pasadena, California.
Charlie Rose speaks onstage during the ‘CBS This Morning‘ panel discussion at the 2015 Winter TCA Tour in Pasadena, California.Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Update: PBS and CBS have since released statements regarding the allegations. “PBS was shocked to learn today of these deeply disturbing allegations. We are immediately suspending distribution of Charlie Rose,” the network said. CBS also announced he is suspected from CBS This Morning, as well.

Eight women — three on record and five anonymously — came forward on Monday, November 20, with multiple allegations against CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose. All of the women, employees of or aspiring to work on the Charlie Rose show from the late 1990s to 2011, shared similar experiences with The Washington Post.

Former intern and associate producer for the PBS show, Reah Bravo, described “unwanted sexual advances” he allegedly made toward her while traveling together for work. “It has taken 10 years and a fierce moment of cultural reckoning for me to understand these moments for what they were,” she said. “He was a sexual predator, and I was his victim.”

Related: Hollywood Sexual Misconduct Scandals

Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, a former assistant to Rose, claimed that the host would walk nude in front of her while she worked at his home. He’d also allegedly call the then 21-year-old multiple times and “describe his fantasies of her swimming naked in the Bellport pool as he watched from his bedroom.” When Godrey-Ryan told Rose’s executive producer, Yvette Vega, about the calls, “She would just shrug and just say, ‘That’s just Charlie being Charlie.’” Godfrey-Ryan also said that when Rose found out she told a friend about the misconduct, she was fired.

Charlie Rose, Norah O'Donnell, Julie Chen and Sharon Osbourne on the set of ‘CBS This Morning‘
Charlie Rose, Norah O’Donnell, Julie Chen and Sharon Osbourne on the set of ‘CBS This Morning‘ Heather Wines/CBS

“I should have stood up for them,” Vega, who’s worked with Rose since 1991, said. “I failed. It is crushing. I deeply regret not helping them.”

Rose, 75, often has young producers and assistants who travel with him, who are referred to as “Charlie’s Angels,” two former employees said, adding that he often gives unwanted shoulder rubs to the women.

Related: Channing Tatum, Laura Dern, Jane Fonda and More Speak Out Against Harvey Weinstein Amid Sexual Misconduct Scandal

“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 Washington Post. “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.”

“I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too,” the host continued. “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.”

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