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How Julie Chen Showed Support For Embattled Husband Les Moonves During ‘Big Brother’ Return
Moonves, the former CBS CEO, has been accused by at least a dozen women of sexual misconduct.
Julie Chen has made it clear that she is standing by her husband.
Chen’s partner of nearly 14 years, former CBS chairman and CEO Les Moonves, stepped down on Sunday in the wake of numerous sexual misconduct accusations. After being absent from her usual co-host position for the season nine premiere of “The Talk” — “to be with family,” she told Variety at the time — Chen returned to TV this week to resume hosting “Big Brother.”
At the end of Wednesday’s broadcast, Chen altered her usual sign-off to include a show of support for her husband, People reports. Addressing the camera, she stated, “I’m Julie Chen Moonves. Goodnight.”
Chen has never used the name “Moonves” on the show prior to Wednesday night, the outlet reports.
It would appear to be a small but exceedingly clear show of support for her husband. Earlier this year, two separate reports from The New York Times detailed the stories of a dozen women, all of whom claimed to have been sexually harassed in some way by Moonves. In a statement to The Times, Moonves called the “appalling accusations” against him “untrue,” but admitted to having had “consensual relations” with three of the women more than two decades ago, prior to his time at CBS.
“And I have never used my position to hinder the advancement or careers of women,” his statement continued. “In my 40 years of work, I have never before heard of such disturbing accusations. I can only surmise they are surfacing now for the first time, decades later, as part of a concerted effort by others to destroy my name, my reputation, and my career. Anyone who knows me knows that the person described in this article is not me.”
Shortly after the allegations against her husband surfaced, Chen took to Twitter to issue a brief statement, writing, “I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement.”
[Photo: Leslie Moonves and Julie Chen attend the premiere of “Patriots Day” at AFI Fest 2016, presented by Audi at The Chinese Theatre on November 17, 2016 in Hollywood, California. ByTara Ziemba/Getty Images]
