By Maria Armental 

CBS Corp. fired veteran broadcast journalist Charlie Rose on Tuesday, a day after reports of allegations of sexual harassment that the media company called "extremely disturbing and intolerable."

The Public Broadcasting Service and Bloomberg LP, which had distributed Mr. Rose's trademark interview program the "Charlie Rose" show, also terminated their relationships with Mr. Rose.

On Monday, The Washington Post published accounts from several women who alleged that Mr. Rose sexually harassed them. The women had worked or aspired to work for Mr. Rose at the "Charlie Rose" show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011.

The show has been on since 1991 and is produced by Charlie Rose Inc., an independent television production company. It appeared nightly on PBS member stations and in prime time on Bloomberg Television, with Mr. Rose as host and executive editor.

Mr. Rose, 75 years old, had also co-hosted the morning show "CBS This Morning" and was a contributing correspondent on CBS's "60 Minutes." His firing from CBS was announced to staff in a memo from CBS News President David Rhodes.

"Despite Charlie's important journalistic contribution to our news division, there is absolutely nothing more important, in this or any organization, than ensuring a safe, professional workplace -- a supportive environment where people feel they can do their best work. We need to be such a place," Mr. Rhodes wrote in the memo.

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Rose's "CBS This Morning" co-hosts, Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell, addressed the allegations.

"Charlie does not get a pass here. He doesn't get a pass from anyone in this room," said Ms. King, who had been hired with Mr. Rose to anchor "CBS This Morning" in 2011 and described Mr. Rose as a friend and partner. Ms. King said she intended to speak to Mr. Rose Tuesday.

Mr. Rose on Monday apologized for inappropriate behavior, saying in a statement posted on his Twitter account: "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."

Companies across industries are reassessing their policies after a wave of allegations of workplace sexual misconduct, including accusations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, comedian Louis C.K. and political analyst Mark Halperin. Mr. Weinstein has apologized for his past behavior with colleagues but denied allegations of nonconsensual sex. Messrs. C.K. and Halperin expressed remorse, and Mr. Halperin denied some of the allegations.

On Monday, the New York Times suspended political reporter Glenn Thrush after a report of inappropriate behavior toward women. Mr. Thrush apologized "to any woman who felt uncomfortable" in his presence.

Also on Monday, 21st Century Fox said it was setting up an advisory committee for Fox News as part of a settlement with a shareholder over sexual-harassment and racial-discrimination complaints at the company.

21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp share common ownership.

PBS, which also distributed "Charlie Rose: The Week," said it "expects all the producers we work with to provide a workplace where people feel safe and are treated with dignity and respect."

CBS's Mr. Rhodes said that maintaining the news division's credibility requires managing "basic standards of behavior."

"I've often heard that things used to be different. And no one may be able to correct the past. But what may once have been accepted should not ever have been acceptable," Mr. Rhodes wrote.

Joe Flint contributed to this article.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2017 16:18 ET (21:18 GMT)

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