Julie Chen returned to television with an unusual signoff days after her husband, Les Moonves, resigned as the CEO of CBS after sexual misconduct allegations.
The 48-year-old host ended Thursday’s Big Brother broadcast by saying, “From outside the ‘Big Brother’ house, I’m Julie Chen Moonves. Good night.” Usually, she just says “Julie Chen.”
Chen did not address her husband’s resignation during the broadcast and seemed extra upbeat throughout the night.
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A dozen women have come forward with allegations of misconduct against Moonves, that include being forced to perform oral sex and retaliation when advances were turned away.
Six women accused Moonves of misconduct in a New Yorker article published last month. Even before the new allegations came to light on Sunday, CBS’ board was reportedly discussing terms of Moonves’ exit. Six other women have now come forward, making new sexual misconduct allegations against the former CBS chief.
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The New Yorker on Sunday reported the women’s accusations, which include Moonves forcing them to perform oral sex. Moonves acknowledged relations with three of the women but said they were consensual, and that he had never used his position to hurt women’s careers.
CBS said Sunday that it takes the allegations very seriously and that its board of directors is investigating.
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Shortly after resigning as CEO of CBS, Moonves denied the new sexual misconduct allegations.
Moonves’ three-paragraph statement says “untrue allegations from decades ago” are being made against him and are not consistent with who he is.
He also says he is deeply saddened to leave the company but wishes CBS and its employees well.
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Many Big Brother fans noticed Chen’s signoff and took to Twitter to discuss the addition of her husband’s last name.
Some thought it was disrespectful to the people who have come forward with allegations against Moonves.
https://twitter.com/jujuju0791/status/1040438025514311680
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Some were surprised as Chen has never used her husband’s name when signing off for the entire 20 seasons of Big Brother.
https://twitter.com/MichaelLGerm/status/1040419785388056578
https://twitter.com/melbrown0/status/1040420057896103936
https://twitter.com/DaveyPatt/status/1040409417865457665
https://twitter.com/chaoticjacobw/status/1040420613762953216
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Chen was absent Monday for the season premiere of The Talk. In a statement, she said she would be off for a few days, but she did not address the allegations against her husband.
Some viewers commented on Chen’s absence.
She publicly supported Moonves after a first round of accusations last month, saying he was a “decent and moral human being.”
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She went on The Talk on July 30 and opened the show by saying, “Some of you may be aware of what has been going on in my life for the past few days. I have issued the one and only statement I will ever make on this topic on Twitter. And I will stand by that statement today, tomorrow, forever.”
Moonves joined CBS as head of entertainment in 1995 and has been CEO of CBS Corp. since 2006, leading the CBS network, Showtime and other entities. CBS has spent much of his tenure as the nation’s most popular broadcast network, with hits such as The Big Bang Theory and NCIS, and its success has made Moonves one of the highest-paid and most powerful executives in the business.
Chen and Moonves married in December 2004. The couple has one child together, their eight-year-old son, Charlie. Moonves has three other children from a previous marriage.
—With files from the Associated Press
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