Eight women have come forward with allegations that longtime television host Charlie Rose exposed himself to them, groped their breasts, buttocks and genital areas and made sexually-charged phone calls over the course of more than 10 years.
In extensive interviews with the Washington Post, the women recounted how Rose made unwanted sexual advances while they worked or aspired to work on Rose's namesake PBS show between the late 1990s and as recently as 2011.
Ranging in age from 21 to 37, five of the women spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the veteran TV host. The women's allegations have striking similarities, describing how Rose alternated between anger and flattery.
Rose, 75, who also co-hosts "CBS This Morning" and contributes to "60 Minutes," apologized for his "inappropriate behavior" but insisted he was under the impression that the incidents were consensual.
"It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize," Rose said in a statement. "I am greatly embarrassed. 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."
"I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too," he continued. "All of us, including me, are coming to a newer and deeper recognition of the pain caused by conduct in the past, and have come to a profound new respect for women and their lives."
