x
Breaking News
More () »

Julie Chen makes it official: She's off 'The Talk' now that her CEO husband is out at CBS

Julie Chen was a no-show for 'The Talk' season premiere Sept. 10, one day after her husband, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, was fired following sexual harassment allegations.
Credit: Pool
Les Moonves, Chief Executive Officer of CBS, and Julie Chen arrive for the formal Artist's Dinner at the US Department of State on December 2, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images)

Julie Chen made official what had been reported late Monday: She announced via a pre-taped video Tuesday on "The Talk" that, after nine years as an anchor, she is not coming back to the CBS daytime series.

Chen's announcement came after her husband, former network CEO Les Moonves, was shown the door amidst an investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct and a corporate battle with majority shareholder Shari Redstone.

"I have been at 'The Talk' since the day it started nine years ago...we have become a family, but right now I need to spend more time at home with my husband and our young son," Chen said in a taped message from the set of "Big Brother," which she also co-hosts. (Its season finale airs next week).

For the most, part Chen smiled broadly during the video and choked up a little only one time, when she was thanking the behind-the-scenes crew of the show.

"I send my love and I will miss you very, very much," she said.

She also sent out personal thanks to her co-hosts, leading to tears for Sheryl Underwood.

"I know this show and the sisterhood it stands for will live on for many years – ladies, you've got this and I am proud to call you my friends," Chen said. "I love you."

Afterwards, there were only a few minutes for co-host Sara Gilbert, looking sad, to thank Chen for "all you did to contribute to the success of this show. "We love you. And to all of you, we will see you tomorrow."

Chen, 48, who has been with the show since its 2009 inception, alongside original co-hosts Gilbert and Sharon Osbourne, was a no-show for the daytime show's season premiere Sept. 10, one day after Moonves was fired.

She said at the time she was taking "a few days off" to be with her family, but reappeared only on Thursday's episode of the CBS reality series "Big Brother." She signed off for the first time there as Julie Chen Moonves, in an apparent show of solidarity.

Chen is expected to remain on "Big Brother," at least until the show's season finale on Sept. 26. But that's a show where she's not expected to comment and joke about the day's headlines and latest viral videos.

The Moonves scandal, and the bigger culture-changing #MeToo movement that helped power his downfall, would be one of those topics the women hosts of "The Talk" would be expected to discuss. That would have been awkward, to say the least.

But Chen said goodbye without expressing bitterness or recriminations. Instead, she said something personal to each of the co-hosts on the Tuesday show, and even suggested that stand-in Carrie Ann Inaba might be a good replacement.

She called herself and Underwood the "bookends" of the show because she typically opened and Underwood typically closed, and she called Gilbert and Osbourne her fellow "musketeers."

"Sara and Sharon, I will always treasure our friendship, your great parenting advice, the laughs and private jokes," she said. "We were the original 'Three Musketeers.'"

Before You Leave, Check This Out