By: Audrey Bernstein ’20
American television journalist Charlie Rose was terminated from his position on CBS and his PBS television show on Nov. 20 due to sexual harassment allegations. Rose has been accused of misconduct by eight women, three of which chose to go on record.
The CBS This Morning and 60 Minutes host released his statement on Twitter regarding the accusations and apologizing for his misconduct.
“I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that,” Rose said, “though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate.” In addition to his statement, he said that he always believed his feelings toward the women accusing him of harassment had been mutual.
Many students agree with the decision to suspend Rose’s position. “I think it is important that [Rose] was fired, so that he was held accountable for his actions,” Emma Lieberman ’20 said.
CBS news correspondent Vladimir Duthiers is likely to replace Rose on the show, according to Page Six.
Megyn Kelly, host of Megyn Kelly TODAY, recounted the incident on her talk show. Kelly addressed Rose’s unwanted and uninvited pursuits of women, including inappropriate phone calls, groping and nudity.
A former colleague of Rose, Gayle King, spoke on behalf of CBS This Morning. “Charlie does not get a pass here. He doesn’t get a pass from anyone in this room,” she said. “He doesn’t get a pass because I can’t stop thinking about the anguish of these women.”
Following Rose’s statement, the PBS Public Editor recounted the emails from frequent viewers that swarmed its inboxes. “This is getting ridiculous when Charlie Rose is dumped for being a man,” Suzanne Phillips of North Carolina said. “The difference between a man’s sex drive and a woman’s sex drive is the difference between shooting a bullet versus throwing it.”
English teacher Ann Neary responded to Phillips’ statement. “That seems to be a little bit twisted,” she said. “It’s not a matter of your sex drive. It’s a matter of going after vulnerable people.” She added that his actions were unethical.
Lieberman agreed with Neary’s response. “Men don’t just get to act the way they want to because it’s their sex drive. This is not an action that can be excusable just for their gender,” Lieberman said.
The events were in subsequence with harassment accusations towards Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein and film director James Toback, with over 100 allegations between the two.
Noah Engelke ’19 believes that there is a trend of sexual harassment in the nation. “I think it’s just this time when women are accusing men more often,” he said. “Now [women] are really coming out, which I think is a good thing.”
King shared a similar sentiment. “I think it’s well past time for us [women] to express our upsets,” she said, “for us to not worry so much about being nice.”
