Norah O’Donnell Address CBS Shakeup on ‘CBS This Morning’

By Variety Staff

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “CBS This Morning” anchor Norah O’Donnell acknowledged this morning on “” that one of the biggest stories of the day had to do with the show’s own network, CBS.

The CBS program opened with a segment about the exit of Leslie Moonves, the longtime CBS CEO who exited the company yesterday amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment by several women over two reports from The New Yorker. Moonves has acknowledged some of the encounters but described them as consensual or awkward and denied he forced himself on anyone.

The anchor made remarks similar to those she offered on the program ten months ago, when she and co-anchor Gayle King addressed the departure of their former colleague Charlie Rose, after a report in The Washington Post contained allegations by many women about that journalist’s behavior toward them.

“There is no excuse for this alleged behavior,”she said, after noting that “Les has always treated me fairly and with respect.” O’Donnell added: “This I know is true: Women cannot achieve equality in the workplace or society until there is reckoning.”

She said the Moonves inquiry had “hurt morale” at CBS News but said she was “confident” the truth of the matter would eventually come out, a nod to investigations into the culture of CBS being conducted by the company’s board of directors.

O’Donnell said she consulted with Gayle King, her co-anchor, in devising what she might say on Monday’s broadcast. King was out today. John Dickerson and Vladimir Duthiers joined her at the “CBS This Morning” table.

Watch the full segment below: