Former ‘Charlie Rose’ producer: Racism, sexism were ‘inherent’ to the show

A former producer for veteran journalist Charlie Rose’s canceled PBS show says that racism and sexism were “inherent” to the behind-the-scenes atmosphere at the show.

Producer Rebecca Carroll, who now works at Shonda Rhimes’ production company ShondaLand, tweeted Wednesday evening that Rose would regularly belittle her and that she was punished for speaking out about “casual racism” at the show.

“As a young black woman starting out as a producer for the prestigious Charlie Rose show, I had to gauge every day whether to respond to casual racism or sexually predatory behavior,” Carroll tweeted.

“I spoke out about racialized or micro-aggressive racism and was punished for it. The predatory behavior was ignored or accepted or laughed off — it was inherent to our daily culture,” she continued.

As a young black woman starting out as a producer for the prestigious Charlie Rose show, I had to gauge every day whether to respond to casual racism or sexually predatory behavior.

— Rebecca Carroll (@rebel19) November 22, 2017

I spoke out about racialized or micro-aggressive racism and was punished for it. The predatory behavior was ignored or accepted or laughed off — it was inherent to our daily culture.

— Rebecca Carroll (@rebel19) November 22, 2017

Carroll said in subsequent tweets that she never believed that Rose treated African-Americans as his equals.

“There wasn’t a single day that went by during my experience working with him that I believed he thought black people were his equals,” Carroll tweeted.

{mosads}

“Charlie is from Henderson, NC where the KKK has a white page listing. He boasted friendships [with] black folks in the same way he boasted his “respect” for women. [He] regularly made me feel like I should be grateful for the job, like it was a handout, and [would] then castigate me for not excelling at it,” she added.

Rose was fired from CBS on Tuesday and PBS announced it would halt distribution of his show after eight women came forward to accuse the veteran TV host of sexual misconduct. Rose apologized for his conduct in a statement Monday.

“It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior. I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate,” he said in a statement.

Carroll concluded her tweet thread with a warning for media outlets to not ignore her thoughts on “structural racism” at Rose’s program and the wider media industry.

“And so for media asking me to talk about Charlie and my experience w the show and my thoughts on these allegations — I’m not coming w/o thoughts on structural racism too,” she tweeted. “And if you then don’t include that in your coverage, that’s on you.”