Gayle King & Norah O’Donnell Respond To Their Co-Anchor Charlie Rose’s Sexual Harassment Allegations — ‘We Are All Rocked By This’

Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell are responding to the sexual harassment allegations against their fellow CBS co-anchor, Charlie Rose.

As we reported yesterday, the longtime journalist was suspended following an explosive report by The Washington Post in which multiple women claim Rose made lewd phone calls, walked around naked in their presence, or groped their private parts as they worked for or aspired to work for the Charlie Rose show from the late 1990s to as recent as 2011.

On Tuesday morning, King and O’Donnell took the first few minutes of CBS This Morning to express their support of the women coming forward, and their disappointment in Rose.

Related: Melissa Gilbert Recalls Being Sexually Harassed By Oliver Stone

O’Donnell told viewers:

“This is a moment that demands a frank and honest assessment about where we stand and more generally the safety of women. Let me be very clear: there is no excuse for this alleged behavior. It is systematic and pervasive and I’ve been doing a lot of listening and I’m going to continue to do that. This I know is true: women cannot achieve equality in the workplace or in society until there is a reckoning and a taking of responsibility. I am really proud to work at CBS News. There are so many incredible people here, especially on this show – all of you here. This will be investigated. This has to end. This behavior is wrong. Period.”

Oprah Winfrey‘s bestie went on:

“I really am still reeling. I got an hour and 42 minutes of sleep last night. Both my son and my daughter called me, Oprah called me and said, ‘Are you OK?’ I am not OK. After reading that article in the Post, it was deeply disturbing, troubling and painful for me to read. That said, I think we have to make this matter to women – the women that have spoken up, the women who have not spoken up because they’re afraid. I’m hoping that now they will take the step to speak out, too. This becomes a moment of truth.”

King went on the describe her relationship with Rose — and how she intends to speak with him today:

“You know, I’ve enjoyed a friendship and a partnership with Charlie for the past five years. I’ve held him in such high regard and I’m really struggling because how do you – what do you say when someone that you deeply care about has done something that is so horrible? How do you wrap your brain around that? I’m really grappling with that. That said, Charlie does not get a pass here. He doesn’t get a pass from anyone in this room. We are all deeply affected. We are all rocked by this.”

The journalist also voiced her support to the victims telling their stories:

“And I want to echo what Norah said, I really applaud the women that speak up despite the friendship. He doesn’t get a pass because I can’t stop thinking about the anguish of these women. What happened to their dignity, what happened to their bodies, what happened maybe to even their careers. I can’t stop thinking about that and the pain they are going through. I also find that you can hold two ideas in your head at the same time, you can grapple with things. And I’m, to be very honest with you, I’m still trying to process all of this. I’m still trying to sort it out because this is not the man I know, but I’m also clearly on the side of the women who have been very hurt and very damaged by this.”

Watch their full segment (below):

We applaud CBS for tackling these allegations head-on.

[Image via CBS.]