CBS News fired political director Steve Chaggaris over alleged ‘inappropriate behavior,’ it was reported late Wednesday.
Chaggaris, a longtime employee of CBS News, was most recently in charge of overseeing the division’s coverage of the Trump administration.
News of his ouster was first reported by CNN.
Chaggaris deleted his Twitter account sometime in the past two days.
His firing comes six weeks after CBS dismissed another big name from its roster of journalists, Charlie Rose.
CBS News fired political director Steve Chaggaris over alleged ‘inappropriate behavior,’ it was reported late Wednesday
Chaggaris, a longtime employee of CBS News, was most recently in charge of overseeing the division’s coverage of the Trump administration
Rose, who co-hosted the morning show, was fired after The Washington Post revealed allegations of sexual misconduct made by a number of women.
CBS News said it encouraged staff members to report instances of harassment and other inappropriate behavior in the wake of a rash of high-profile cases.
A spokesperson for CBS News told CNN that the allegations against Chaggaris surfaced just before the Christmas holiday.
‘In the last two weeks, accounts of inappropriate behavior by Steve Chaggaris were brought to our attention and were immediately investigated,’ a network spokesperson told CNN.
His firing comes six weeks after CBS dismissed another big name from its roster of journalists, Charlie Rose
‘As a result, CBS News has severed ties with Mr. Chaggaris for violating company policy, effective immediately.’
CBS employees were told of the decision to fire Chaggaris on Wednesday.
Chaggaris had been with the network since 1999.
During his tenure with CBS News, he worked as a producer, reporter, and editor.
Last March, he was promoted to be its political director.
Since the revelations of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sex crimes this past October, a number of high-profile media figures have been forced out of their jobs due to similar accusations of misconduct.
Since October, New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush; author Mark Halperin; NBC’s Matt Lauer; Matthew Zimmerman, also of NBC; Michael Oreskes of NPR; Vox’s Lockhart Steele; Hamilton Fish of The New Republic; and The Atlantic’s Leon Wieseltier have either been suspended or fired due to varying degrees of alleged harassment or assault.
Before the Weinstein allegations came to light, Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes were forced out from Fox News over allegations they sexually harassed women in the workplace.