Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
CBS daytime show The Talk kicked off its ninth season talking about CBS CEO Les Moonves exit the previous night after more women alleged he’d sexually harassed them.
Moonves’ wife, Julie Chen, who co-hosts The Talk and also hosts CBS’ Big Brother, noticeably was missing as show panelists made their entrance and it fell to Sharon Osbourne to lead the discussion.
“As you all know, Julie’s husband is in the news, and she’d taking off time to be with her family,” Osbourne said.
“It’s very embarrassing and upsetting to have to talk about her husband,” Osbourne said, also acknowledging that she knows Moonves only “in a superficial way.”
But, when Ronan Farrow’s first New Yorker piece about Moonves broke, detailing several women making claims against him, she nonetheless was asked to make a statement supporting Moonves. Osbourne said she did so in “as diplomatic” a way as she could.
“But now, after seven more women have come out these stories that are so similar, the pattern is so similar, that for me, he’s not been convicted of any crime but obviously the man has a problem,” Osbourne stated.
“Mr. Moonves can step down, and Mr. Moonves is an extremely wealthy man, and good luck to him,” she added. “He’s worked very hard and made this network No. 1.”
Show creator/panelist Sarah Gilbert chimed in: “I agree; Julie is our friend. … This is our ninth season, and we’ve been together since the beginning. I love her and support her always. However, this is an important time in our culture, and just because this hits close to home doesn’t change the story.”
Osbourne said she was particularly struck by the allegations made by former television exec Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, who claimed Moonves “took my whole career” decades ago, after she rebuffed him.
“Her story just broke my heart. It really broke my heart,” Osbourne said. “Phyllis said, ‘Who would believe me? I’m a nothing, and this man is everything.’”
“That power, power, power. Why is it when men get that power, it goes to their testicles?” Osbourne asked rhetorically.
CBS Corporation announced Sunday night that Moonves was out as chairman/CEO. The announcement came hours after New Yorker published a second Farrow report in which more women made sexual misconduct allegations against the veteran exec.
Moonves on Sunday evening issued a statement, saying: “Effective immediately I will no longer be Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CBS. I am deeply saddened to be leaving the company. I wish nothing but the best for the organization, the newly comprised board of directors and all of its employees.”
Moonves noted he led CBS’s transformation from struggling broadcast network to global media company, while acknowledging contributions of the company’s staff.
Moonves and CBS made a $20M donation to charities supporting the #MeToo movement.
In late July, shortly after The New Yorker published Farrow’s first report on allegations about Moonves, Chen had addressed, briefly, on The Talk, saying, “Some of you may be aware of what’s been going on in my life for the past few days. … I issued the one and only statement I will ever make on this topic on Twitter. I will stand by that statement today, tomorrow, forever.”
She was referring to a statement she had posted to Twitter:
“I have known my husband, Leslie Moonves, since the late ‘90s, and I have been married to him for almost 14 years. Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader. He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband.”
