Whatever Happened To CBS Anchor Charlie Rose?

The following article mentions sexual misconduct allegations.

For decades, Charlie Rose was viewed by the public as both a competent journalist and a respectable human. Public opinion on the latter drastically changed in 2017, when The Washington Post ran a story in which eight women who worked with Rose all alleged he sexually harassed them. The article detailed shocking behaviors on the part of the esteemed journalist, such as groping, lewd phone calls, and nudity.

Though Rose responded with an apology, he also minimized his actions. "It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior," he wrote on X (via E! News). "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." The fallout was swift, and Rose has been far less public in the years since those first allegations (yes, first).

Rose came to journalism in a roundabout way, having originally wanted to work in medicine and, later, law. His initial exposure to the world of broadcasting came via his then-wife, who worked for "60 Minutes" and helped him build connections. Rose began his onscreen career in 1972, as a weekend reporter for WPIX-TV, while still working full-time in banking. He eventually became one of the most recognizable news personalities on TV and, for 45 years, had legions of fans. But what happened after his #MeToo era fall from grace? Here's a look at Charlie Rose's life and career in the years since.

It was not long after that bombshell Washington Post report that Charlie Rose faced punishment from his employers. Things began with suspensions — and this happened basically as soon as the story broke in November 2017. PBS announced they were ceasing distribution of his show "Charlie Rose," effective immediately, while Bloomberg TV similarly halted its airing. At the same time, CBS issued a similar suspension. All of these very quickly turned into permanent dismissals, and CBS even reshot one of the two stories Rose had in the pipeline for "60 Minutes." They scrapped the other entirely.

Though he contributed to a variety of CBS programs over the years, Rose was best known for co-anchoring "CBS This Morning" and for his correspondent role on "60 Minutes." He appeared on more than 1,100 episodes of the former between 2012 and 2017, winning multiple Emmy Awards in the process (he has had many other nominations for his other work at CBS, but no wins). In addition to his affiliation with CBS, Rose was known for his self-titled PBS interview show. He began hosting the program in 1991 and put out more than 9,000 episodes before its cancellation.

Though CBS and PBS both officially fired Rose the day after the report's release, it took them a while to find replacements. John Dickerson took over for Rose on "CBS This Morning" in January 2018, while PBS did not fill Rose's time slot permanently until the summer. CNN icon Christiane Amanpour's "Amanpour & Company" claimed the coveted spot.

Though broadcasting is not always a profession where people's dreams of getting rich can become a reality, the biggest names in the industry are often able to amass quite the fortune. And given the high-profile nature of his gigs, it is not surprising that Charlie Rose racked in the dough. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he today has a total net worth of $40 million. At CBS alone, Rose was said to have been making about $5 million a year as of 2016. Throw in PBS and other income streams — such as a $35,000 speaking fees garnered from in-person talks — and it is certainly not hard to see how the journalist did so well for himself.

One also can't deny Rose's success when considering his real estate portfolio. As of 2018, he owns at least five properties, including two in his hometown of Henderson, North Carolina, a 5,500-square-foot estate and a farm. He is also believed to still have a $2 million place in D.C., although he likely rents it out if he does (as he has in the past). The two homes that Rose regularly inhabits are in New York City and Long Island, and his website even notes that he splits his time between the two. Valued at roughly $3 million, the Big Apple property is located on Fifth Avenue and overlooks Central Park. His Bellport, Long Island home — which has four bedrooms, is 5,500+ square feet, and sits on an acre of land — is estimated to be worth between $4 and $6 million.

According to a very thorough report from The Hollywood Reporter, Charlie Rose holed up at his mansion in Long Island in the aftermath of his firing. Well, "holed up" may be a deceiving term, given the size of the place and the amenities at hand. The house is on the water, providing plenty of activity options, and it also has a tennis court, swimming pool, and guest house. He retreated to the Bellport, New York property after his attempts at living his usual public New York City life landed him in the gossip rags multiple times. He then stayed there from January to March of 2018, although he eventually went back to shuffling between his many properties.

Bellport was perhaps the ideal place to camp out, since the village is populated by less than 2,000 people and is considered a discreet, private enclave. But even then, Rose reportedly stopped leaving his home most days after the scandal. He even began sending his housekeeper to pick up food from local restaurants, where he previously used to dine alone relatively frequently, so he could eat in the privacy of his house. Though his social life diminished — the Hollywood Reporter referred to him as "broken" and "desperately lonely" — Rose kept his usual routine when at home. That meant reading 10 newspapers and playing tennis every morning, even though he had no job. We imagine the slowdown was a huge shock to the system for Rose, who was used to 17-hour days where he was constantly on the move.

The initial Washington Post article cited workplace misconduct allegations from eight women who worked with Charlie Rose, three of whom used their real names and five of whom spoke out anonymously. Little did we know that this was simply the tip of the iceberg. A May 2018 investigation from the same newspaper uncovered an additional 27 women who claimed to have been sexually harassed by the dishonored journalist. These new allegations came from 14 CBS News workers and 13 individuals who worked with Rose elsewhere, whereas the initial eight victims all worked with Rose on his PBS show "Charlie Rose."

The Washington Post spent five months working on the follow-up story, interviewing more than 100 current and former CBS News employees to get a fuller picture of the magnitude of the misconduct (as well as dozens of colleagues from outside of CBS). Through this, they were able to detail another troubling piece of the puzzle, that Rose's pattern of misconduct was repeatedly reported to CBS management dating all the way back to 1986. Though CBS brass denied knowledge of the issue, it was clear from the article that Rose's misdeeds were somewhat of an open secret. "I had been there long enough to know that it was just the way things went," said Sophie Gayter, who accused Rose of groping her while working at "60 Minutes" and was one of the few interviewees to speak on the record. "People said what they wanted to you, people did what they wanted to you," she continued.

Charlie Rose was fired from all of his jobs after the initial allegations against him came to light, but that was certainly not the end of the veteran TV star's troubles. He was sued by multiple victims (more on that later) and his legacy was so tainted that many of his honors were rescinded. This too happened swiftly. For instance, only a week after the initial Washington Post article was published, journalism schools at both the University of Kansas and Arizona State University announced they were voiding honors previously awarded to the former anchor.

"The Cronkite School is rescinding the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism given to Charlie Rose in 2015," read a statement from the ASU journalism school's dean, Christopher Callahan. "In rescinding this award, we hope to send an unequivocal message that what Mr. Rose did is unacceptable, and that such behavior — far too common in not just media companies but many organizations — must stop," read another part of the statement. The statement from KU's William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications — which rescinded the White National Citation Award they bestowed upon Rose in 2016 — expressed similar sentiments.

Less than two weeks later, Duke University's DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy announced they were taking back the Futrell Award given to Rose in 2000. Though the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame opted to let Rose remain within, they amended his associated biography to include the sexual misconduct. "Transparency is critical to journalistic standards. His fall from grace must be documented along with his career," Susan King, dean of UNC's journalism school, said in a statement at the time.

A number of rich and powerful men were taken down when #MeToo started gaining steam in 2017, and most of them have been unable — or perhaps even unwilling, in some cases — to totally redeem themselves as far as the public is concerned. Charlie Rose had major plans for his redemption, but whereas people like Louis C.K. or Chris D'Elia were able to forge comebacks rather quickly after facing their own allegations, comedians are not exactly held to the same standard as serious broadcasters. Rose's fandom was different, people's expectations for him were more stringent, and worst of all, his redemption plan was pretty bad. Scratch that — it was really, really bad.

According to reports, less than a half year after the allegations against Rose were first made public, the journalist was already shopping around a new project. His idea? To host a show where he offered men exposed by the #MeToo movement a forum of sorts to rehabilitate their careers and regain their status. "Disgraced CBS anchor Charlie Rose is being slated to star in a show where he'll interview other high-profile men who have also been toppled by #MeToo scandals," wrote Page Six in April 2018. Per the article, Tina Brown (founding editor in chief of The Daily Beast and former EIC of multiple other publications) was approached to produce the atonement series, which was being pitched as a potential Netflix show. Brown very wisely turned down the offer and the totally icky idea thankfully never made it into production.

There is little reason to doubt that Charlie Rose lost friends amidst his sexual misconduct scandal. Associating with a man accused of groping and other forms of lewd conduct — including subjecting unconsenting women to feast their eyes on his naked body — is not exactly a good look for anyone. Associating with such a man when you yourself work in a public field such as broadcasting is an even worse look, as it can call into question the judgment of a person whom the public is inherently supposed to trust. That is why, for example, Katie Couric could not maintain a relationship with former co-anchor and friend Matt Lauer after his #MeToo scandal, even if she wanted to.

That is not to say that it is impossible to maintain a friendship with a disgraced public figure, however. Journalist Gayle King is an example of this, as she continued to support her former colleague Rose in the aftermath of his firing. "I don't feel as if I've had to reconcile my feelings," King told The New York Times in June 2018. "I don't believe in turning your back on a friend, even when a friend has done something you adamantly disagree with and you're disappointed in. But I also know that you listen to women, and I don't discount their stories, either."

King reaffirmed her stance late that year, telling the Times that, considering "murderers" could walk around freely post-jail, she thinks Rose and those similarly accused can find their own redemption.

Though no network or streaming service has been willing to touch Charlie Rose with a 10-foot pole, it turns out the dude is rather resourceful. He waited four years for the chatter to settle before staging a comeback and, when he did initiate one, he did it all on his own. His first interview was with billionaire Warren Buffett, which was a big get for the journalist, as he had become somewhat of a pariah. "I'm proud to share this recent conversation with Warren Buffett," Rose wrote on his website, where he posted the video (via The Wrap). "It is his first interview on camera in almost a year and the first I've done in more than four years. It is a step in a journey to engage the most interesting people and explore the most compelling ideas in the world.

The April 2022 interview was also the launch of a new ongoing project for Rose, a series of interviews similar to those he was known for but designed for a series called "Charlie Rose Conversations." In addition to his website, Rose also posts the interviews on his YouTube channel, which has 236,000 subscribers as of September 2025. Though Rose's YouTube publishes an interview nearly every day, these are primarily old interviews from PBS as part of a "Rose Rewind" series. Interspersed is the occasional "Charlie Rose Conversation," which happens a handful of times a month.

We have already covered most of Charlie Rose's punishments for his sexual misconduct in the workplace, including his firings, his reputational damage, and the rescinding of multiple of his awards. There was one more big consequence, however, and it was the legal proceedings launched against him. In 2018, three former employees — Katherine Brooks Harris, Sydney McNeal, and Yuqing "Chelsea" Wei —filed suit against CBS and Rose himself, alleging "repeated, ongoing and unlawful physical and verbal sexual harassment, including without limitation: (a) sexual touching; (b) sexual comments; and (c) sexual advances" (via court documents obtained by People).

Rose attempted to get the lawsuit dismissed, with no success, while CBS settled with all three plaintiffs extremely quickly. The exact settlement was not made public, nor is it clear why the other 24 victims did not join the suit (though it seems likely that at least some of them would have concerns about judgment from others in broadcasting). The suit against Rose continued even after CBS settled, and it was not resolved until November 2024, a full six years after it was filed.

In 2019, another alleged victim, Gina Riggi, filed her own lawsuit against Rose, alleging that the journalist frequently made derogatory comments about her weight and was verbally abusive. That suit is ongoing.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).