Julie Chen announced Monday she’s taking some time off from CBS’ “The Talk,” a day after her husband, Les Moonves, resigned as chairman of the network amid a fresh wave of sexual misconduct allegations.
“I am taking a few days off from The Talk to be with my family,” Chen said in a statement to Deadline.com.
“I will be back soon and will see you Thursday night on Big Brother.”
Chen was absent from “The Talk” Monday, while her co-hosts addressed the scandal on air.
“As you all know, Julie’s husband is in the news, and she’s taking off time to be with her family … It’s very embarrassing and upsetting to have to talk about her husband, but we do,” Sharon Osbourne said, per Variety.
Osbourne said she was asked to make a statement in support of Moonves after six women accused him of sexual misconduct last month — but with six more women speaking out in a story published Sunday, it’s clear to her he has “a problem.”
“After … 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 said.
Osbourne said she was particularly affected by new accusations by TV executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, who alleges that Moonves had her blacklisted from the industry after he sexually and physically assaulted her and she then spurned his further advances.
“Her story just broke my heart. It really broke my heart,” Osbourne said, according to Deadline. “Phylils 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?”
CBS announced that Moonves was out as chairman and CEO of the company on Sunday after the second story was published.