Getty Julie Chen has said she supports her husband Les Moonves amid sexual harassment allegations and the two are still together.
Tonight is the premiere of a quarantined version of Big Brother, and Julie Chen returns to host the series once again. Chen has been married to Les Moonves since 2004.
Chen, who is now 50 years old, has stood by her husband amid sexual harassment allegations from dozens of women, some who claim they were harassed by him dating back to the 1980s. In 2018, Moonves stepped down as the CEO of the CBS Corporation.
Chen and Moonves have one child together, Charlie, who was born in 2009.
Here’s what you need to know:
Chen & Moonves Are Still Together
In 2018, after the allegations came to light, Chen came forward in support of her husband and a source told CNN that she “has decided her main focus needs to be clearing her husband’s name.”
Later, Chen made a statement on Twitter that verified what that source was saying.
“I have known my husband, Leslie Moonves, since the late ’90s, and I have been married to him for almost 14 years,” she wrote. “Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband, and an inspiring corporate leader. He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement.”
In Moonves’ statement, he said he recognized that “decades ago” he may have made women uncomfortable by making advances. “Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely,” he wrote. “But I always understood and respected — and abided by the principle — that ‘no’ means ‘no,’ and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone’s career.”
The Couple Will Celebrate 16 Years of Marriage in December
At the end of 2020, Chen and her husband will celebrate 16 years of marriage together. They were married in Acapulco, Mexico, on December 23, 2004. She was 34 at the time, while he was 55.
Reports came out at the time of the allegations that it was possible marrying Chen brought an end to Moonves’ sexual harassment. According to The New York Times, Moonves demanded sex from multiple female colleagues but it stopped after he and Chen were married.
The report claimed that Moonves “engaged in multiple acts of serious nonconsensual sexual misconduct in and outside of the workplace, both before and after he came to CBS in 1995.”
The report called the marriage to Chen a “bright line” after which the sexual misconduct seemed to have stopped. The report also detailed what the CBS board and management may have known about the misconduct as well as how they reacted to it.
“A number of employees were aware of this and believed that the woman was protected from discipline or termination as a result of it,” the lawyers wrote in the report. “Moonves admitted to receiving oral sex from the woman, his subordinate, in his office, but described it as consensual.”
The lawyers were not able to speak directly to the women, but they were able to determine that “such a pattern arguably constitutes willful misfeasance and violation of the company’s sexual harassment policy,” The Times reported.
Big Brother airs at 9 p.m. on CBS.
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