Eight women accuse talk show host Charlie Rose of sexual harassment

Article first appeared on RPT.

Longtime television host Charlie Rose is the latest celebrity to be accused of sexual harassment by eight women.

Rose allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct with “nudity, groping and lewd calls.”

Much like Al Franken, according to the Washington Post, Rose’s unwanted advances included “groping [women’s] breasts, buttocks or genital areas.”

Charlie Rose has been suspended from CBS and PBS following the sexual harassment claims.

The Washington Post reports…

The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS, also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.”

There are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women, each of whom described their interactions with Rose in multiple interviews with The Post. For all of the women, reporters interviewed friends, colleagues or family members who said the women had confided in them about aspects of the incidents. Three of the eight spoke on the record.

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Reah Bravo was an intern and then associate producer for Rose’s PBS show beginning in 2007. In interviews, she described unwanted sexual advances while working for Rose at his private waterfront estate in Bellport, N.Y., and while traveling with him in cars, in a hotel suite and on a private plane.

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Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, one of Rose’s assistants in the mid-2000s, recalled at least a dozen instances where Rose walked nude in front of her while she worked in one of his New York City homes. He also repeatedly called the then-21-year-old late at night or early in the morning to describe his fantasies of her swimming naked in the Bellport pool as he watched from his bedroom, she said.

The Gateway Pundit notes that rumors of Rose’s alleged sexual misconduct have been circulating around the media for years, but were never reported on, in part, because of the power the television host wields. This is a common thread throughout the sexual harassment claims rocking Hollywood and Washington — powerful men preyed on women who were too terrified to speak out.

In a statement to the Washington Post, Rose said “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.“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,” Rose continued.

“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.”

Washington Post reporter Mark Berman tweeted…

“These are some of the most heartbreaking parts of these stories: People driven out of professions by those in power”

Becket Adams tweeted…

“Rose, who defends himself now by saying he thought he was “pursuing shared feelings,” sh*t canned one of the women who talked.”