There’s nothing concrete in the works, but the idea of a show whose entire premise is that one man toppled by the #MeToo movement will interview other men toppled by the #MeToo movement is one of the worst proposals in a long time.
Page Six reports in a scoop titled “Tina Brown says she was pitched Charlie Rose comeback show”:
A source confirmed in an email to Page Six that “Tina said she’d just been emailed about co-hosting a new show with Charlie Rose, in which they’d interview Louis C.K., Matt Lauer,” and others who’ve been outed by the #MeToo movement, which seeks to shine a light on systemic sexual abuse.
C.K. went into hiding last year after he confessed to lewd conduct in front of at least five women. Lauer also went underground after allegations surfaced that he had sexually harassed and abused female coworkers, including one who claims he locked her in his office and raped her.
Rose was fired from both CBS and PBS News after 17 women accused him of various acts of sexual misconduct, including inappropriate comments, groping, lewd calls, walking around naked in front of colleagues, making one colleague watch a sex scene with him from the movie “The Secretary,” and more groping. So much groping.
Brown confirmed to Page Six that she was “she was approached about the Rose confessional show, clarifying she was asked to produce it, rather than co-host.”
As absurd as this show proposal sounds, it’s not really a one-off. There’s a larger effort underway to rehabilitate certain men outed by #MeToo. I’m not alone in noticing this trend, which has included some extraordinarily glossy press coverage for the accused.
“There’s been an ominous drip-drip-drip of stories reporting on how these men are [faring] in ‘exile’ and speculating about how they might stage their comebacks,” Fortune noted recently.
Former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., for example, was given a rousing defense in April by EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock and David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, both of whom suggested the former lawmaker is the real victim. For the record, eight women have accused Franken of unwanted touching and kissing. Most men and most senators don’t even have a single accuser — at present, anyway.
Rose also enjoyed glossy, public image-repairing press in April when the Hollywood Reporter published a plush profile characterizing him as a “broken” and “brilliant” news icon. Credibly accused sexual predators Mario Batali and, yes, Louis C.K., have also enjoyed rehabilitating news coverage.
Then there’s this story alleging a show for Rose and his #MeToo cohort, and it hasn’t even been six months since they were first credibly accused of sexual misconduct.
