Veteran news anchor suspended after sexual harassment claims

Three networks have taken veteran presenter Charlie Rose off the air, with the 75-year-old saying he is “greatly embarrassed”.

US news presenter Charlie Rose has been suspended by the CBS network after eight women accused him of sexual misconduct.

The women made their claims to The Washington Post, and three went on the record with their allegations.

Rose is accused of groping several of the women, walking naked in front of one, and telling another he imagined her swimming naked.

In a statement, Rose apologised and said he was “greatly embarrassed”.

He said he did not think all the allegations were “accurate”, adding: “I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realise I was mistaken.”

Rose said he had now “come to a profound new respect for women and their lives”.

The 75-year-old has now been suspended from hosting the popular programme CBS This Morning.

American public broadcaster PBS, where the veteran newsman also anchored a nightly interview show, said it was shocked by the “deeply disturbing allegations”.

It has halted distribution of the show, with Bloomberg also pulling reruns effective immediately.

Rose had previously described sexual harassment as a “terrible thing” that needed more exposure – but now faces a string of allegations himself.

Reah Bravo, a former associate producer with PBS, told The Washington Post: “He was a sexual predator, and I was his victim.”

She said Rose had groped her multiple times and claimed he once summoned her to his hotel room and emerged naked from the shower.

One of Rose’s former assistants, Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, said the presenter had called her repeatedly to describe his fantasies of her swimming naked in his pool while he watched from the bedroom.

Aged 21 at the time, she said she lost her job when Rose discovered she had spoken to a mutual friend about his behaviour.

Megan Creydt, who worked on Rose’s PBS show in 2005 and 2006, was the third woman to go on the record.

She said Rose put his hand on her thigh as he drove her through Manhattan. Five other women made similar allegations to The Washington Post.

One of the report’s authors, Amy Brittain, tweeted after her story was published to say her inbox was “already flooded with women who have had similar, disturbing encounters with Charlie Rose”.

Ben Bogardus, a journalism professor at Quinnipac University, predicted: “It will be a long time, if ever, before viewers see Charlie Rose in the anchor chair again.”

Rose is the latest high-profile figured to be accused following the fallout from the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

New York Times‘ White House reporter Glenn Thrush was also suspended on Monday amid claims he made drunken advances toward women. news.sky.com