Julie Chen, Wife of Les Moonves, to Leave 'The Talk' on CBS
September 17 2018 - 11:53PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
Julie Chen, wife of former CBS Corp. Chairman and Chief
Executive Leslie Moonves, who last week resigned in the midst of
sexual-harassment allegations, will quit her role as a host on the
network's daytime talk show "The Talk," people familiar with the
matter said.
Ms. Chen hasn't been on "The Talk" since Mr. Moonves resigned
under pressure from the CBS's board and controlling shareholder
National Amusements Inc. She is expected to announce her departure
from the show via video on Tuesday's program.
Since allegations of sexual harassment and assault by Mr.
Moonves appeared in the New Yorker magazine, Ms. Chen has been
publicly supportive of her husband; he has denied assaulting or
forcing himself on any women. Mr. Moonves has also denied punishing
women professionally who rebuffed his advances, which was also
alleged in the New Yorker stories.
After the first New Yorker story was published in July, Ms. Chen
tweeted that Mr. Moonves is a "good man" and a "kind, decent and
moral human being." She said she stood behind his statements of
innocence.
She also made a similar statement on "The Talk" in July.
News of Ms. Chen's pending departure was first reported by the
New York Post and CNN.
Ms. Chen's exit from "The Talk" removes an awkward situation
from a show that is hosted by four women who often talk about newsy
topics, including the #MeToo movement. Inside CBS, there was also
concern about whether keeping Ms. Chen on air every day would
hinder its effort to move past the controversy surrounding Mr.
Moonves' resignation, people close to the company said.
While Ms. Chen hasn't appeared on "The Talk" since Mr. Moonves
resigned, she did appear last week on the CBS prime time reality
show "Big Brother, " which she also hosts. On that show, she signed
off as Julie Chen Moonves, which she had not done before.
No determination has been made about Ms. Chen's future as "Big
Brother" host. A spokesman for the Endemol Shine Group production
company that makes the program declined to comment. A person close
to Ms. Chen said she expects to remain host of "Big Brother" for
"years to come."
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 17, 2018 23:38 ET (03:38 GMT)
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