Former Dayton reporter Julie Chen leaving 'The Talk' after husband Les Moonves leaves CBS, reports say

Credit: AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File

Credit: AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File

A former Dayton reporter is leaving her national daytime talk show in the wake of controversy surrounding her husband, according to multiple media reports.

Julie Chen is expected to leave CBS’ “The Talk,” following her husband Les Moonves’ resignation from his position as CEO of the television network.

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DAYTON CONNECTIONS

Chen was a reporter at WDTN-TV in 1995.

She discussed the racism she faced at the Dayton television on “The Talk” in 2013, saying comments from one of the station’s former news directors led to her developing a complex about her Asian heritage that ended in plastic surgery.

>> RELATED: Big Brother,’ ‘The Talk’ host Julie Chen traumatized by workplace racism in Dayton

During a special segment of show called Shocking Secrets, Chen said a long-gone WDTN-TV news director told her she would never be accepted in Dayton as an anchor.

“He said ‘you will never be on this anchor desk because you are Chinese.’ And he said ‘Let’s face it, Julie, how relatable are you to our community? How big of an Asian community do we really have here in Dayton? Our audience can’t relate to you because you are not like them,” Chen recalled on the episode.

Chen was a 25-year-old reporter at the time and said the comments devastated her.“

It felt like a dagger in my heart,” Chen said. “My lifelong dream was to be a network anchor and if I could not even anchor in Dayton, Ohio, how am I ever going to get to New York City?”

WDTN was owned by the Hearst Corporation when Chen worked there and LIN Media in 2013 when a manager issued an apology to Chen for her treatment.

The station is now owned by Nexstar Media Group.

>> RELATED: Dayton TV station apologizes to Big Brother, The Talk host Julie Chen for racism she experience working there

ABOUT CHEN’S PLANNED DEPARTURE

It was not immediately clear when Chen planned to officially announce her departure. Citing an unidentified source, Page Six reported Monday that Chen would step down in the coming weeks. However, CNN reported that Chen was expected to announce her departure in a videotaped message to viewers Tuesday. The news network reported she will continue to act as host on the reality show "Big Brother."

"She has decided that her main focus needs to be clearing her husband's name from accusations made 25-30 years ago and tending to her son," an unidentified person told CNN.

After 20 years with CBS, Moonves stepped down as the network's CEO earlier this month amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations. At least a dozen women told The New Yorker they were sexually harassed or assaulted by Moonves.

Chen supported her husband after allegations first surfaced over the summer.

“Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader,” Chen said in a statement released in July. “He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband and stand behind him.”

 

Chen was absent for the season premiere of “The Talk,” which aired on Sept. 10, one day after her husband left CBS. In a statement, she said she would be off for a few days, but she did not address the allegations against her husband.

Chen has co-hosted “The Talk” alongside actress Sara Gilbert and media personality Sharon Osbourne since the show premiered in October 2010. Comedian Sheryl Underwood and musician Eve also co-host the program.

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