Charlie Rose told female underlings 'to become lovers already,' lawsuit claims
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Disgraced TV journalist Charlie Rose is being sued by three former CBS employees who claim the former “This Morning” host sexually harassed them and threatened their jobs.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in New York Supreme Court by Katherine Brooks Harris, Sydney McNeal and Yuqing Wei.
The women allege the 76-year-old frequently made sexually suggestive comments and engaged in unwanted sexual contact in the course of 2017. They were all in their 20s.
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The lawsuit also goes after CBS executives, whom they claimed failed to warn the employees about Rose’s troubling history of sexual misconduct.
It also alleges CBS has a history of workplace harassment against women “over a period of decades from at least the 1980s forward,” adding Rose himself has allegedly sexually harassed “more than two dozen women at CBS.”
Harris, who joined CBS in 2016, claimed Rose initially approached her and attempted to lure her with expensive lunch dates where he “bought her wine and floated job opportunities at ’60 Minutes,’” as well as his PBS show “Charlie Rose.”
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In a job offer letter, Rose made questionable comments, such as “I want you to be at the center of my professional world,” “You help me get through the day” and “I look forward to the most exciting year of our lives.”
The plaintiffs insisted Rose would repeatedly touch them, pull them close to his body and kiss them on the cheek. Rose allegedly went as far as placing his hands on Harris’ thigh and called other women “prostitutes.”
McNeal, who was required by Rose to join him and Harris for dinner, claimed he sexually touched her without her consent. The women also claimed Rose repeatedly asked the women about their sex lives and insisted them on sharing details.
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He suggested McNeal and Harris to have sex with each other and “told them words to the effect of, ‘You just need to become lovers already,’ and 'you should have seen the women I was with when I was younger.'”
The lawsuit alleges Rose went as far as to order Harris and McNeal to visit his home for a reported errand and said “I better not hear any stories about two young women swimming naked together” in his swimming pool.
Wei alleged Rose would refer to her as “China Doll” and said comments such as “I love the way you do that” while she was being caressed. She too insisted Rose allegedly would want to kiss her.
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An exposé published Wednesday by The Washington Post claimed 27 additional women are accusing Rose of sexual misconduct and that managers at CBS and PBS were told about his alleged inappropriate behavior over the years.
CBS News denies that any human resources complaints were ever filed against Rose.
Rose was first accused of grabbing women’s genitals, walking around naked in front of them and making lewd phone calls in a bombshell report the Washington Post published in November, in which eight women detailed their alleged experiences with Rose.
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Rose was fired by PBS and CBS at the end of 2017.
CBS News told the Post it has changed its policies since Rose’s firing.
“Since we terminated Charlie Rose, we’ve worked to strengthen existing systems to ensure a safe environment where everyone can do their best work,” a statement from CBS said. “Some of the actions we have taken have been reported publicly, some have not. We offer employees discretion and fairness, and we take swift action when we learn of unacceptable behavior."