Decider After Dark

Creepy Charlie Rose Made His Intern Watch Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Kinky ‘Secretary’ S&M Sex Scene

Sarah Gordon, a former intern on PBS’ The Charlie Rose Show, has accused the program’s host of sexual harassment. In an interview with MSNBC, Gordon says Charlie Rose invited her to his apartment in 2002 and asked her to watch a scene from the movie Secretary in which the lead character, played by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, engages in S&M with her boss (James Spader).

“I proceeded to go into the living room and he said I want to show you this scene from this movie,” Gordon said. “He said, ‘Have a seat, relax’ and he proceeded to turn on the film Secretary, which is a sexually involved film, involving S&M unfortunately. I guess some people are really into this. I’m not.”

Secretary, directed by Steven Shainberg, centers on the S&M relationship that forms between a submissive young woman and her dominant boss. “I just didn’t know what to say, probably then I tried to divert it,” Gordon said. “I always try to change the subject.”

Gordon is one of numerous women who have come forward with harassment allegations against Charlie Rose. The Washington Post published a report on November 20 in which eight women accused Rose of making unwanted sexual advances towards them. The allegations say Rose walked around naked in front of female co-workers, had lewd phone calls with them in which he shared sexual fantasies, and groped them.

Rose has since been fired from PBS and CBS, where he served as co-anhor on CBS This Morning and was a correspondent on 60 Minutes. Watch Gordon’s interview with MSNBC in the video below.

Where to stream Secretary