Veteran reporter Charlie Rose comes to the end of his career, as eight women accuse him of making unwanted sexual advances.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Eight women have told The Washington Post that longtime television host Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas. 

The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS and Bloomberg TV, also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.” 

There are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women, each of whom described their interactions with Rose in multiple interviews with The Post. For all of the women, reporters interviewed friends, colleagues or family members who said the women had confided in them about aspects of the incidents. Three of the eight spoke on the record.

Unlike those allegations against AL Franken, these seem far more egregious and therefore appropriate that Rose steps down.

To his credit Rose did not deny the allegations, and instead took some responsibility for his actions: 

“In my 45 years in journalism, I have prided myself on being an advocate for the careers of the women with whom I have worked,” Rose said in a statement provided to The Post. “Nevertheless, in the past few days, claims have been made about my behavior toward some former female colleagues. 

“It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior. I am greatly embarrassed. 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. 

“I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too. All of us, including me, are coming to a newer and deeper recognition of the pain caused by conduct in the past, and have come to a profound new respect for women and their lives.”

I predicted before that we would see respected members of the political, entertainment, and media world accused of inappropriate sexual conduct.  And so we are.

Charlie Rose is also joined by reporter Glenn Thrush of the New York Times:

The New York Times said on Monday that it was suspending Glenn Thrush, one of its most prominent reporters, after he was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior. 

The move came after the website Vox published a report containing allegations from four female journalists that Mr. Thrush, who was hired by The Times in January to cover the Trump administration, had acted inappropriately toward them. Mr. Thrush was a star reporter at Politico before joining The Times. 

The women cited in the Vox article described Mr. Thrush’s behavior as including unwanted kissing and touching. Three of the women were not identified by name. The fourth, Laura McGann, wrote the article, which was presented in the first person. 

“The behavior attributed to Glenn in this Vox story is very concerning and not in keeping with the standards and values of The New York Times,” The Times said in a statement on Monday. “We intend to fully investigate and while we do, Glenn will be suspended.”

It is clear that women are feeling very empowered right now, and overall that is a good thing.

However I certainly hope that the bar for sexual harassment is not being lowered to such a point that literally ANYTHING a man says or does to a woman, that is not specifically requested by that woman, becomes the definition.

If that happens it can undermine the legitimacy of actual sexual assaults and sexual harassment allegations, and allow predators to simply dismiss them all as a kind of mass hysteria.

This is potentially a watershed moment in American history, but if people are not vigilant it can devolve into, dare I say it, a witch hunt.