Julie Chen (or Julie Chen Moonves, as she called herself for the first time ever on Big Brother Thursday night) will have to leave the Talk on CBS.
Soon.
That is the nearly universal opinion of top broadcast executives from Los Angeles to New York.
Last night, public relations powerhouse Danny Delaney reacted to Chen’s sign off on Big Brother, tweeting:
Delaney’s words could have a considerable impact especially because he represents one of Moonves’ alleged victims, Illeana Douglas.
Chen’s support of her husband, Les Moonves, who is leaving his CEO job in disgrace, may be a sign of loyalty, but it will sink the credibility of her show The Talk.
In this age of the #MeToo movement, how can you have the chief host of a talk show incapable of supporting the women who have come forward? Julie Chen can’t condemn every other guy guilty of sexual abuse, but remain stone cold silent when it comes to the former CEO of CBS.
And she shouldn’t put her co-hosts in the awkward position of defending her while she stands by her man.
Even though it’s the hottest topic of conversation among TV fans, viewers of “The Talk” have not heard directly from Chen this week in the wake of Moonves’ forced resignation on Sunday. There’s a certain amount of hypocrisy billing yourself as “the talk” show when some topics, that hit too close to home, are off limits.
Either Julie Chen leaves The Talk, or The Talk leaves CBS. There really is no way around this situation.
Big Brother has different complications for Chen, and the network moving forward, as we have previously discussed.
The season finale of Big Brother is Wednesday, September 26. That may serve as the finale of Chen’s career at CBS too.
“When Leslie first fell in love with me, he said, ‘You know why I love you, Jules? Because I don’t impress you.’ And I said, ‘You do impress me; I’m just not blowing smoke up your butt like everybody else,’ ” said Chen in a 2014 interview.
Moonves – a lifelong Democrat who has a framed photograph of him with Presidents Obama and Clinton in both his New York and L.A. offices – may attempt a comeback in the form of a political career. He has been open to being appointed to a variety of posts.
His talents are many, even while his personal behavior has been abhorrent. But considering the current President of the United States (with his own success on reality TV) has also been accused of sexual harassment by two dozen women, politics may not be out of the question.
Julie Chen remains one of the best broadcasters of modern times. Before she took the advice of Moonves and headed to the entertainment division, she was the highly qualified and credible anchor of the CBS Morning News. She is one of the best interviewers on television.
But her time at CBS, so tightly linked to her husband the past two decades, is likely to come to an end when her husband officially leaves.