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Julie Chen steps away from CBS’ ‘The Talk’ after Moonves fiasco

Julie Chen announced Monday she’s taking some time off from CBS’s “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. “I will be back soon and will see you Thursday night on Big Brother.”

Chen was absent from the season premiere of the afternoon chat show Monday, while her co-hosts awkwardly discussed the scandal.

“As you all know, Julie’s husband is in the news, and she’s taking off time to be with her family,” Sharon Osbourne said. “It’s very embarrassing and upsetting to have to talk about her husband, but we do, we feel it’s right.”





Osbourne said she was asked to make a statement in support of Moonves after six women accused him of sexual misconduct in July — but with six more women speaking out in a story published Sunday, it’s clear to her he has “a problem.”

“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.

The co-host added that she was particularly affected by new accusations by TV executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, who alleges Moonves had her blacklisted from the industry after he sexually and physically assaulted her and she spurned his further advances.

“Her story just broke my heart,” Osbourne said. “It really broke my heart and I don’t care whether it was yesterday, 20 or 30 years ago, but somebody that breaks somebody’s life like that has to be accountable.





“That power, power, power. Why is it when men get that power, it goes to their testicles?”

Fellow co-host Sara Gilbert chimed in that she loves and supports Chen, but “this is an important time in our culture and just because this hits close to home, it doesn’t change the story.

“All women’s stories, and these women’s stories matter,” the “Roseanne” star added. “This is very serious, and the appropriate actions need to take place. I am happy when women are heard because for a long time, they haven’t been.”

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