Gayle King reveals she and Charlie Rose are still friends

The two women who worked side-by-side with Charlie Rose are opening up about their former co-host in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. 

Gayle King said that she and fellow CBS This Morning anchor Norah O’Donnell were shocked when they first heard about Rose’s predatory behavior, especially since she considered Rose such a good friend.

‘Yes, I did. And I have to say, I still do. So it was very interesting to have a friend really let you down, and I think he did. I only speak for me. It was a punch in the stomach to me,’ explained King.

O’Donnell admitted she had less of a relationship with the man when asked later in the interview about what she would have done had she learned about his behavior prior to his dismissal from the show.

Difficult day: King would not say however whether or not Rose had acknowledged that what he did was wrong after being terminated for sexual misconduct (the two women sharing the news about Rose’s misconduct)

‘Well, I’m not his boss and I’m not his manager and it’s not my job to adjudicate that. For the people who work for me — I don’t have direct management responsibility for them — but they work with me and I can control that relationship,’ explained O’Donnell. 

‘But I don’t have any control over how much money my co-host makes or how he is reprimanded or managed.’

King then jumped in to say that she would have said something to Charlie, prompting O’Donnel to note: ‘I would not have felt comfortable having that conversation with him. I think he would’ve screamed at me.’

When King the admitted he might have screamed, O’Donnell clarified her statement by saying: ‘I would not have felt comfortable having that conversation with him. I think he would’ve screamed at me.’

Rose meanwhile seems to be doing fine despite the scandal according to King.

When asked is she still speaks with Rose, King said: ‘I have. He tells me that he’s fine. Because I said, “I’m worried about you.” He keeps assuring me there’s no reason to be worried about him, but I am worried about him, I am. And I do care about him. He was a big part of my life for six years. So I can’t just turn that off. But I also can’t dismiss the stories that I’m hearing, and I do take them very seriously.’

King then addressed the issue of whether Rose realized that what he did was wrong.

‘Well, I’m going to let him speak for himself about that, but I’ve definitely had a very serious conversation about it, about how I feel about it,’ said King. 

‘I can’t dismiss what I’m hearing. I can’t act like I didn’t hear that.’

O’Donnell then added: ‘I’ll just say one thing on that. I think we now know that his behavior was abusive and predatory. And there is absolutely zero tolerance when it comes to that, end of story.’

Rose was fired by CBS when the Washington Post published the accounts of eight women who claim they were sexually harassed or assaulted by the journalist. 

His eponymous interview show was also cancelled by PBS and Bloomberg, who broadcast the program and allowed Rose and his employees to use their Manhattan office. 

The women are opening up in The Hollywood Reporter (above)

The two women addressed the allegations with their viewers, relaying their conflicted feelings about the disturbing revelations.

King said she’s ‘still reeling’ and barely slept last night. After hearing about the allegations, she sought comfort by talking to her close friend Oprah Winfrey.

‘I really am still reeling. I got an hour and 42 minutes of sleep last night, both my son and my daughter called me. Oprah called me and said, are you okay? I am not okay.

‘After reading that article in the post, it was deeply disturbing, troubling and painful for me to read,’ King said. 

Both she and O’Donnell said it was important to believe the women who have come forward to accuse Rose, and hope it encourages other victims to come forward. 

‘Charlie does not get a pass here,’ King said. ‘…He doesn’t get a pass because I can’t stop thinking about the anguish of these women, what happened to their dignity, what happened to their bodies, what happened maybe to even their careers. I can’t stop thinking about that and the pain that they’re going through.

She added: ‘The women who have not spoken up because they’re afraid…I’m hoping now they will take the step to speak up too. This becomes a moment of truth.’

‘It takes a lot of courage for these women to come forward and I think that they should continue to do something. We hope they will continue to speak up,’ said O’Donnell. 

She later stated that the global sexual harassment scandals demand ‘a frank and honest assessment about where we stand’.   

‘Let me be very clear: there is no excuse for this alleged behavior. It is systematic and pervasive and I’ve been doing a lot of listening and I’m going to continue to do that.

‘This I know is true – women cannot achieve equality in the workplace or in society until there is a reckoning and a taking of responsibility.

‘I’m really proud to work at CBS news. There are so many incredible people here especially on this show. All of you here.

‘This will be investigated. This has to end. This behavior is wrong. Period.’

Ladies night: King celebrated the magazine story om Thursday with Marla Maples and Megyn Kelly (above)

King also said she also felt for Rose as a longtime friend and collaborator.

‘I’ve enjoyed a friendship and a partnership with Charlie for the past five years. I’ve held him in such high regard and I’m really struggling because how do you – what do you say when someone that you deeply care about has done something that is so horrible? How do you wrap your brain around that? I’m really grappling with that,’ King said.  

She added: ‘I’m still trying to sort it out because this is not the man I know, but I’m also clearly on the side of the women who have been very hurt and very damaged by this.’ 

Among the claims made by women were that Rose would grope their breasts, buttocks and genitals without their consent, make lewd telephone calls, and walk around naked in their presence without warning.

The women who came forward with these claims about Rose, 75, were all between the ages of 21 and 37 at the time of the alleged misconduct and working for the legendary television host.

Two former employees said that the young female assistants and producers Rose would constantly surround himself with were known as ‘Charlie’s Angels.’

In a lengthy statement in response to the expose, Rose did not deny all of the allegations being made by the women but said that he did not believe all of his accusers were ‘accurate’ in heir description of his offenses.

‘It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior. I am greatly embarrassed,’ stated Rose. 

‘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.’

The backlash was swift for Rose, with PBS and Bloomberg announcing they would no longer air his eponymous talk show within an hour of the Post publishing their story on Monday and CBS suspending the host. 

CBS also ran a segment on the allegations just three minutes into the CBS Evening News broadcast on Monday.

Following the publication of the Post article, two additional women came forward in an interview with The New York Times, and Business Insider published an interview with three more former interns. This brings the total number of accusers to thirteen.

The Post also says more than a dozen women have contacted them after their original story with similar claims. 

Rose, whose only marriage ended in divorce back in 1980, has been in an on-and-off relationship for the past 25 years with Amanda Burden, 73, who is a Principal at Bloomberg Associates.

All of the alleged incidents described by the woman in the Post story occurred while Rose was with Burden, who is the stepdaughter of CBS founder William Paley.

Rose has no children.