Julie Chen has been stuck in a storm of controversy at CBS ever since husband and CBS head honcho Les Moonves was accused of sexual misconduct. Moonves has since been ousted from the network, leading many to question whether Chen would stick around as host of The Talk and Big Brother in the aftermath. Well, she decided to leave The Talk, and her farewell to viewers and her coworkers was emotional and seemingly heartfelt. Take a look!
In her farewell address to The Talk (which was pre-taped), Julie Chen did not allude to Les Moonves' firing from CBS or the accompanying controversy. The closest she came to mentioning what happened after the allegations against her husband came when she stated that she needed to "spend more time at home with my husband and our young son." Instead of spending most of the two minutes of her farewell talking about Moonves' current situation, she addressed the audience as well as the cast and crew of The Talk.
Julie Chen choked up a bit when she began her message of love and farewell to the people behind the scenes at the show. She went on to address her former co-hosts individually. Although fans would undoubtedly have liked to see Chen in-studio for her farewell to The Talk and actually interacting with the co-hosts, her message was quite touching. At least those who kept up with the latest news on Chen were probably aware both that she was leaving and that she would say goodbye with a taped message rather than a final episode as co-host.
Despite the fact that Julie Chen was an institution at The Talk by virtue of her presence on the show from the very beginning, it's not altogether shocking that she decided to leave the series. She has supported Les Moonves after the allegations against him, even going so far as to show solidarity with him on a recent live episode of Big Brother, when she signed off with "I'm Julie Chen Moonves" rather than her usual "I'm Julie Chen." Given that Moonves will likely be a topic of discussion at The Talk if the situation continues to unfold, co-hosting likely would have been uncomfortable for Chen.
As for Les Moonves, he has denied the allegations against him, even after he was ousted from CBS. His departure from the network and now Julie Chen's decision to leave The Talk may mean that a lot of the buzz surrounding the story may die down, and we may not get any more commentary from the likes of Stephen Colbert and more. We'll have to wait and see. The good news for fans of Julie Chen is that she is as of now remaining on board as host of Big Brother in the fall TV lineup.
