Julie Chen Gets Support From Larry King After She Stands By Her Husband, Les Moonves, Amid CBS Sex Scandal
Julie Chen is getting support from talk show legend Larry King after her headline-making show of support of her husband, Les Moonves, during her sign-off on Big Brother on Thursday night. The CBS host was absent from her daytime show, The Talk, for a full week, but her return to live TV on Thursday ended with her announcing herself as “Julie Chen Moonves” for the first time in her two-decade career at the network. Chen’s use of her married name came just days after her husband of 14 years resigned from his post as president and CEO at the network amid rampant sexual misconduct allegations.
In an interview with TMZ, King described devoted wife Julie Chen as “a stand-up girl.” The legendary TV and radio host went on to add that he has known Moonves for years and has always liked him but admitted he is concerned about the allegations against the longtime CBS executive.
“She’s his wife, I think she’s a stand-up girl. I’ve known Les a long time. I like Les, I don’t like what happened 20 years ago and I think those things, if true, are terrible.”
King’s seventh wife, Shawn King, agreed with her husband of 20 years and his assessment of Chen’s show of support.
“She’s his wife, if somebody had said something about Larry I would stand right by him.”
But not everyone is a fan of Chen’s apparent “stand by my man” stance.
On Julie Chen’s CBS chatfest The Talk, her fellow co-host Sharon Osbourne said that although she only knows Les Moonves in a “superficial” way, “obviously, the man has a problem.” The Talk panel called for “transparency” in CBS’ investigation of Moonves.
Les Moonves & Julie Chen step out together after his CBS firing https://t.co/277BN3dYN0 pic.twitter.com/KmukmiYla8
— Page Six (@PageSix) September 15, 2018
On ABC’s The View, panelist Abby Huntsman said that while she doesn’t want to judge Chen because “you don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors,” she hopes to hear an explanation from the longtime CBS star as to why she’s seemingly supporting her husband amid sexual assault allegations while being a supporter of the #MeToo movement.
“What I would love for her to do is to use that as an opportunity to be transparent, to be real, to talk to people about what maybe she’s been through and it hasn’t been easy for her, why she’s standing by him,” Huntsman said of Chen.
Les Moonves has denied the allegations against him that were detailed in two bombshell investigative reports by Ronan Farrow for the New Yorker. The former CBS president and CEO admitted to several consensual encounters with women before he married Julie Chen in 2004.
You can see Larry King and his wife talking about Julie Chen below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Z5rfL_izc
