Warning: This article references both sexual assault and sexual harassment, as well as the defense of an alleged abuser. This article may contain some potentially triggering material for some readers.
Five years on from her abrupt departure from The Talk, Julie Chen Moonves is talking for the first time about her mysterious exit from the show.
Chen Moonves co-hosted The Talk from 2010 to 2018, acting as the moderator for much of her eight-year run on the panel-talk show. Chen Moonves left the series in September 2018, following an increasing number of sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations against her husband, Les Moonves. Les Moonves was the CEO of the CBS Corporation from 2003 to 2018, when he resigned in the wake of such allegations.
The Talk airs on the CBS network, as does Big Brother — the reality series Julie Chen Moonves has hosted since its U.S. debut in 2000 — and continues to host to this day. After allegations against her husband emerged, Chen Moonves changed her professional name from Julie Chen to Julie Chen Moonves, as an act of solidarity with her husband.
Why did Julie Chen Moonves leave ‘The Talk?’
Chen Moonves’ departure from The Talk occurred just days after news broke of her husband’s allegations – eventually leading to a court case that resulted in an $800 million compensation payout from Les Moonves and the CBS Network. Last year, CBS and Les Moonves had to pay a fine of $30.5 million to the New York attorney general’s office, after allegations emerged that both parties conspired with the LAPD to conceal the accusations made against Moonves.
Chen Moonves’ departure isn’t crystal clear, as she continued to work for CBS after leaving The Talk. At the time, Chen Moonves simply cited a desire to “spend more time at home with my husband and our young son,” which could mean that she left to provide moral support from her husband, rather than a resignation from the network as a protest.
What did Julie Chen Moonves claim about her exit from the show?
Now, speaking for the first time publicly about leaving The Talk, Chen Moonves cites betrayal from an unnamed source as the cause for her departure. “That was a hard time,” Chen Moonves told Good Morning America . “I felt stabbed in the back. I was, you know.”
Chen Moonves appeared on GMA as part of the promotional tour for her upcoming audio memoir, But First, God, which will be released on September 19th. Chen Moonves did not elaborate further on who or what allegedly stabbed her in the back, and in what manner, but her exit from The Talk will likely be referenced in some way in her new memoir.
If you know someone, including a child, who is suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
