Staffers employed by Charlie Rose’s production company will be out of a job by the end of December, CNN reported Wednesday night.
The veteran journalist was fired from his roles at CBS, and his talk show was dropped by PBS and Bloomberg last week after multiple women accused Rose of sexual harassment and groping. Rose apologized for his behavior, adding that he also didn’t believe all allegations against him were accurate.
Rose’s eponymous talk show, which was produced by his company, Charlie Rose Inc., employs around two dozen staffers, according to CNN. Their employment fate was up in the air last week after the show was unceremoniously dropped from the news networks that distributed the program.
Though the production company rented office and studio space at Bloomberg’s Manhattan location, and some employees even had Bloomberg email addresses, the news organization did not technically employ the show’s staff. Instead, they were employed directly by Charlie Rose Inc.
Rose’s small production company reportedly lacked an official human resources department, according to a New York Times report about the allegations, which noted that he was “essentially running his own fief” and that “employees of “Charlie Rose” had little recourse if they had problems.” CNN reported that some of Rose’s employees had been working with him for more than a decade.
The production company’s informal setting, with Rose at the helm, created an environment where the newsman’s alleged predatory behavior could go unpunished, according to the Times. He invited employees to work from his homes in New York City and Long Island, locations where women said they were preyed upon. Women said there was no way to safely and formally bring forth claims of sexual misconduct.
Though one of the accusers said she complained directly to the program’s executive producer, Yvette Varga, the second-most senior person in the office did not intervene.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Vega, who has been with the show since its inception in 1991, said, “I should have stood up for them. I failed. It is crushing. I deeply regret not helping them.”
CNN reported that Rose was telling staffers they’d be paid through Dec. 31, and that an email from Vega indicated that employees can inquire with Bloomberg’s global head of HR about future opportunities.
Neither Rose nor Bloomberg responded to requests for comment.
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